The Johto Legacy Soul Silver
by TrT the Wizard
Summary: A shy boy of 16 named Ethan begins his adventure in Johto upon receiving a Totodile who he names Nile. Joining him on his journey is his best and only friend Lyra, but will he ever see her as more than that? A retelling of Pokemon Soul Silver. Contains Heartsoulshipping and eventually Redemptionshipping. Rated T for occasional language and themes. Rate , Review, and Enjoy.
1. Chapter 1

**I'm currently going through a phase of my life where upon rediscovering my DS lite I have found myself once again loving the Pokemon franchise. After catching up on the 4th and 5th Gens I discovered that Pokemon Soul Silver is by far my favorite of the series and I felt like writing a narrated version of what happened on my adventure in game.**

**This is my first real fan fiction and any help or reviews would be nice. Even if it's to say that the story is boring, cause it always helps to know what does and doesn't work.**

* * *

Chapter 1: Dreams are made of Gold.

I feel strange, it's like I'm somewhere that I shouldn't be. The air around me is frigid and bitter, and I can feel something falling on my face.

It…it…it feels like snow, why is there snow? Am…I…outside?

I opened my eyes and saw nothing but a pale ever shifting sky of grey clouds. The wind was blowing harshly with snow carried aloft in it.

Where…where the hell…am I?

I looked to my side and noticed that I was lying on the ground several inches deep in snow. I leaned up to look around while brushing snow off myself, but I couldn't make out anything aside from the ground in front of me. The icy wind pelted me and made it impossible to see any farther than a couple yards which only added to my confusion.

How the hell did I get here? Is this a mountain, or some sort of frozen waste land? And why don't I remember how I got here? Where is my home?

I tried to stand up but the wind raged harshly and my face stung as ice cold shards pelted against it. With what little vision I had, I could make out the outlines of some rocks or something, I wasn't sure. There was also some sort of broad triangular shape off in the distance but it was barely noticeable. It looked like the peak of a mountain but it faded away as the wind grew stronger. This place felt so desolate and isolated, yet felt so…familiar, like I was here before.

"Hello…is there anyone there!?" I yelled, but the roar of the wind was so loud that I couldn't even hear myself.

The sheer loneliness that I felt was overpowering and my sweat shirt was starting to give in to the cold. I wrapped my arms around myself, but it did little to fight off the freezing wind. Ice began to cling to the ends of my hair as well as my sweatshirt. I felt alone and afraid as I stood there in the bleak unforgiving snow. I then tried to walk, but the snow was deep, making each step an intense struggle and I could feel the frigid ice clawing away at my legs. Unfortunately with every step I took I felt like I was going nowhere. Nothing in my surroundings changed and the tracks I left in the snow were quickly swallowed up by the raging blizzard in mere seconds. There were no land marks, no nothing, just snow and the hazy wall of wind and ice that surrounded me.

This was pointless I wasn't making any progress! And where the hell was I going anyway?

I stopped in my tracks when I heard something from behind me. It sounded like the flapping of wings or something like that, but the wind made it barely audible. I stood there for moment unsure if I actually heard what I thought I heard. It was so faint that it could've been just some whistle in the wind. But then I felt a presence of someone or something. I don't know why, or how, but I knew that something was behind me.

As if heeding to some primal instinct I turned around in the snow to see what was there. The wind was intense and I held my hand in front of my face to keep the snow out of my eyes. Then I saw them, standing before me were the hazy dark outlines of two large shapes. It was hard to make them out but they looked like some sort of pokemon. They both had what looked like long necks, one ended in what appeared to be a pointed arrow shape while the other was narrower and had some sort of bulge or crest shaped thing on it. I tried my best to see these figures that towered over me, but I could see nothing more than their hazy grey outlines.

I stood there in the freezing cold wondering if these figures would move and where they came from. Then as if reacting to my very thoughts the two figures suddenly pointed their head's toward me as what looked like eyes flared open on both of them. The eyes of the arrow headed one glowed a soft silvery blue while the eyes on the one with the crest burned bright golden yellow.

I took at step back in reaction to their sudden movements and was ready to run. But they just stayed there staring at me unfazed by the icy wind that flowed around them. Then suddenly one of them spoke.

"_The day of binding is coming."_

Those words were uttered in such a way that it sounded like the voices of hundreds of people talking in unison. I don't know how I could tell, but I somehow knew that the golden eyed one was saying those words. But the way it spoke wasn't literally sound though, more like it resonated inside my head.

"_And servitude will befall all." _said another voice similar to the last one but was more feminine and seemed to come from the blue eyed one.

_"But two will join to quell it."_ uttered the golden eyed one.

_"They are the Messiah, and the Pariah."_ said the blue eyed one

They were talking one after the other as if they were synchronized in their thoughts, once one finished the other spoke. But what they were saying made no sense and I was growing frustrated and utterly confused.

"Wait what?...What are you talking about?" I tried to say but was drowned out by the wind.

_"But sadly they will fail." _said the blue eyed one.

_"Unless both find that which they seek more than anything, before time runs out."_

_"And with that the two will put an end to that which is missing but still there." _

"What the hell are you talking about, you're not making any sense!? How did I get here! Who are these people, what the hell is missing but still there!?" I begged but once again the wind was too loud.

The two massive figures both were silenced for a moment and just loomed there staring at me, but then they continued.

_"The old hero is gone."_ the golden eyed one began once again.

_"But the Messiah,"_ echoed the blue eyed one

_"And the Pariah," _

_"Will take his place once they find the things that fill their voids!" _They both said in unison as their eyes flared intensely.

Then the two forms faded away as if they were made of dust and dissipated along with the snow that blew furiously around them.

"Wait! Come back! What does any of that mean!?" I yelled again.

But they never came back and the winds grew more intense. The sheer loneliness returned and nothing, nothing at all made sense. My legs and arms were getting numb; I've never experienced this kind of sheer cold before. I just stood there shivering, hoping for someone to find me.

Then I felt something shift in the atmosphere. I didn't notice it at first but the winds that raged around me have become silent. I looked around and wondered what the hell was going on. Then I felt something, something I could only describe as some presence. But this was different than the one I felt before; it felt familiar yet intimidating. I turned slowly once again and off in the distance among the raging winds stood a figure.

It was hard to make him out but he stood there as if he always knew I would be here and was patiently waiting. He reached his hand up and tilted what looked like a hat.

"Who…who are you?" I said echoing across the silent winds.

"…"

* * *

"Ethan! Time to get up sweetie!" I heard echoing from downstairs into my room.

I awoke from my sleep and found myself in my bed. Was that all…just…a dream? But it felt more real than any dream I've ever had in my life. Jeez that was weird; I hope I never have a dream like that again.

The room was still dark and it was hard to guess the time thanks to my room facing away from the sun. I turned to see my clock on my night stand and I rubbed my eyes to see better, it was 9:20 AM. I sluggishly got up and sat on the side of my bed wondering why my mom would get me up at this hour when she usually lets me sleep in till 11:00 on weekends.

I looked around my room with my PC in the corner and the Wii & TV combo right next to it. On the other side of my room stood my bookshelf filled with science fiction and fantasy novels I've collected over the years. And there were also some posters of my favorite films made by Pokestar studios hanging on my walls; my room is pretty geeky now that I think about it. I stretched my arms, scratched my back, and got out of my bed heading for the stairs. On the way I grabbed my favorite red hoodie and black sweat pants.

"Morning Ethan." said my mom getting breakfast ready for me.

"*yawn*, morning mom." I said while walking down the stairs.

I walked over to the table to eat the prepared scrambled eggs and toast. Once I finished I asked "So mom was there something you needed me for?"

"Well actually it's your friend Professor Elm. He gave me a call and asked for you to meet him at his lab, he said he needed you to do something important for him**.** I guess those summers working for him has won you some favor with him"

"Hmm really, I wonder what he wants? Well I don't want to keep him waiting, thanks mom."

I headed for the front door and grabbed my black and gold baseball cap hanging on the door hook and walked outside. New Bark town wasn't very big and for the most part was a quiet town that was surrounded by forest. My house sat at the very edge of the town on the shore line of a river that leads to Kanto. There were many homes and flea markets, but not much else it's more of a residential town. As I made my way up the street I noticed the wonderful spring time weather and that many of the trees have begun to flower and leave their odor lofting in the breeze.

"Ethan, lookout!" said a familiar voice from behind me.

I turned to find the source when out of nowhere a Marill ran into my legs and fell over on her back.

"Oh no, you okay little guy?" I said as I bent over to help the round pokemon up.

As I looked up I saw a slim girl running towards me. She had chocolate eyes and brown hair which she put up in pigtails, she was wearing a hat with a big red bow on it, short-short suspenders, and a red shirt. She was roughly a head shorter than me and she carried a yellow bag with her. It was Lyra, my best and probably my only friend since I was little.

"Oh sorry about that Goldy boy." she said with her iconic smile walking up to me.

"Me and Marill were playing hide and seek and she must've gotten turned around, and wasn't looking where she was going." she said apolitically.

"It's okay, no worries." I said smiling back at her.

"So Ethan, where were you going before, well you know, Marill ran into you?" she said with a slightly embarrassed face.

"Oh, I was going to see Professor Elm. He said he needed me to do something important for him."

Lyra's eyes lit up with excitement.

"Oh, you know what I think," she said confidently with her finger in the air.

"I think you'll finally get your first pokemon today, that has to be it! Think of it, you've been helping him out so much I bet he's going to reward you. Oh how exciting I can't wait to see, here I'll come with you."

She grabbed my hand and almost threw me off my feet as she made off with me towards Professor Elms lab.

"Whoa Lyra calm down, what makes think I'll be getting my first pokemon, I mean he probably just wants me to fetch something?" I said pulling my hand free.

She stopped for a second and looked back at me with her cute smile and said.

"I don't know, I just got this feeling you know, come on let's go!"

And she was off again with a brisk pace with me tailing behind.

I never understood what made Lyra so outgoing and positive. It's one of those things I always liked about her since we were little. Lyra was fifteen years old, while I'm sixteen, she moved here with her mom about five years ago. I was really shy and I didn't have any friends back then, until I met her. She was so cheerful and fun and she hung out with me all the time, despite my unwillingness to a first, but I eventually learned to like her quirkiness and her spontaneous attitude. The day I met Lyra was the day my life turned around for the better, and she's always been the one who brightens my days. And she can kick my ass at any fighting game on my Wii.

After a few minutes of walking we arrived at Professor Elm's lab. It was a large building at the edge of our town that had a very different feel architecture wise, with more of a contemporary modern look as opposed to the classic look of the rest of the town. It was the newest building in New Bark that was commissioned about two years ago. I volunteer my time there to help Professor Elm with his research, but mostly because I wanted to work with pokemon.

"Well let's go in." Lyra said but the next moment her phone rang.

"Oh come on," she said as she rolled her eyes with disappointment.

"That's probably my mom. She probably needs me for something, I have to go. I'll come back later to see your new pokemon."

She then waved good bye and ran off back into town with her Marill tailing behind her. After she disappeared into town I turned to face the lab but something in the corner of my eye caught my attention. It was subtle but I definitely saw something move fast. I turned again and I caught a glimpse of a shady figure roughly my height with noticeably red hair that darted behind the side of the building. I was hesitant to act, I wasn't sure if I should pursue or not, what if this guy meant trouble? I decided to push past my instincts and investigate what I saw.

I rushed to the side of the building to find the mystery person. As I looked around the corner I saw a kid who looked my age, with red hair draping over his eyes and ears, he wore a black jacket with red trimming along the pockets and edges. He was intensely looking at the side of the lab as if inspecting it and cursing quietly like he kept failing to find something. I stayed hidden for a while not sure of what to do. I had to do something I thought, this guy has trouble written all over him. But what if he has a pokemon on him, or what if he tries to attack me? Worried I took a deep breath and thought it over, and then I decided that I had to confront him, or else something worse might happen.

I called to him "Hey what are you doing back here."

In response the red haired kid snapped his head toward me and gave me an intense look.

"Hey piss off kid," he said standing up and pointing at me.

"How about you mind your own god damn business!" He yelled as he quickly dashed off into the woods and was gone before I could run after him.

After that unpleasant encounter I wondered who he was, I certainly never saw him before in this town. And what was he looking for? I was afraid to keep thinking about it and tried to move on. Besides I knew if he tried to get in the lab he wouldn't be able to without the use of a key card. So I headed back to the front of the lab and went inside using the key card that Elm gave me during the summer when I was working with him.

The inside of Elm's lab was wide and open with mostly book shelves near the front and lots of cool machines near the back. The tiles on the floor were white like marble, and every so often I could find a pile of papers scattered around on the floor or on a table. As I walked towards the back I couldn't help but notice three pokeballs on the table back there. I thought to myself perhaps Lyra was right, maybe I will get my first pokemon today.

"Ahhh, Ethan you're here glad to see you!" exclaimed Professor Elm.

"Good morning Elm, how's it going?"

"I'm doing well thank you Ethan. Now then I called you in today because I have something important I need you to do for me. An associate of mine who goes by the name Mr. Pokemon was raving on about his newest discovery recently, and said I should stop by to pick it up. Unfortunately I'm very busy at the moment so I need you to go to his house and pick it up for me, so are you up for it?"

"Sure, where is his house?"

"That's the spirit I knew I could count on you. He lives north of Cherry Grove city on the road. Now then the trip will take awhile and you'll be trekking through wild pokemon habitat so I thought it would be best if I let you have a pokemon to accompany you on the way"

At that moment my heart filled with joy I couldn't believe it, I was getting my first pokemon.

"Wow are you serious Elm? Are you going to let me have one?"

"Well the volunteer work you did for me over the summer proved to me that you can handle a pokemon. Now come over to the table I have two pokemon for you to choose from"

We walked over to the table and he pointed to the first ball.

"Here we have a Cyndaquil he's a fire type pokemon, and here we have a Chikorita a grass type; both of them are very loyal and easy to handle."

Confused because there were three balls I reached for third and asked "Well who's in this one?" while I pressed the center button to release the pokemon.

"No wait, put that down!"

It was too late I pushed the button and in a brilliant flash of light an upright blue pokemon with a large mouth and reptilian features was revealed and once fully formed it chirped like a baby alligator.

"Careful Ethan that pokemon is a Totodile, they have a nasty habit of biting people I tried working with him but he's too wild."

"Oh come on this cute guy, he can't be that bad."

I turned to face the Totodile, who was currently under the desk, so I kneeled down to the floor. Once I was at his level I reached for the Totodile. The moment I motioned toward him the Totodile snapped his jaws at me but missed barely.

"Oh shit!" I said pulling my hand away from the Totodile and falling on to my back.

"Ethan you alright?" said Elm as he motioned to me.

I looked up at the pokemon in fear and tried to crawl away. It was bearing its teeth at me and hissing very loudly at me and Elm. Elm tried to get to the pokeball on the table but the Totodile snapped its jaws at him and he backed off. It then focused its attention back on me and started to walk closer with its jaws wide open and ready to make me a shredded mess. I crawled back frantically trying to getaway but that's when I saw it. It was brief but I know I saw it or at least I think I saw it. It was fear, I didn't see hate in the pokemon's eyes I saw fear. He was afraid just like me. I looked closer and then I noticed what looked like a scar on the side of the Totodile's left arm. That's when it hit me; this Totodile must be afraid that I have knife on me! I quickly took off my sweat shirt and threw it to the side.

"Hey, hey, hey, Stop! Just hold on sec, look see, I have nothing on me!" I said as I pulled out the insides of pockets in front of the enraged gator pokemon hoping to prove to it that I had nothing like knife on me.

The Totodile stopped in its tracked and look confused at my display.

"Look you're scared. I can see that, okay I'm scared too, just understand I don't want to hurt you." I said trying to find anywhere else I could hide something and show I had nothing hidden there.

"Ethan get back, he's about to…" said Elm as he reached for the pokeball.

"Elm wait! Trust me on this, he's scared of us!" I said cutting him off. I took my bag and emptied what I had inside on the floor and kicked it away**.**

I noticed a turkey sandwich in my bag and I reached for it.

The Totodile hissed at me for trying to reach for something and started walking towards me again.

"Wait, wait ,wait! Look it's just a sandwich!" I said frantically as I got the sandwich out of the bag.

"Look I don't want to hurt you," I said holding out the sandwich to the pokemon.

"I promise I won't hurt you I just want to give this to you." I said looking at the Totodile straight in the eyes.

The Totodile looked very confused but still ready to strike, its eyes still watching me for what felt like eternity. It took one step, but then it paused and looked at its scarred arm before hissing again.

"Did someone do that to you?" I asked.

The Totodile looked away from its arm and gave me a funny look.

"I promise I'm not like whoever did that to you, I just want to be your friend, cause sometimes even if you don't want it, you need someone to be your friend, let me be your friend." I said thinking about what Lyra did for me five years ago.

Something in the Totodile's eyes shifted, it was subtle but I could sense something in him changed. The Totodile slowly closed its mouth. Then after a few seconds it took a step closer to me, then another, then another, until he was mere inches from my hand. Then he stood there staring at me**.** He then stared at his scar then back at me. I was holding my breath I didn't know what would happen next. I saw the Totodile open its mouth and I closed my eyes and looked away. Then I felt the sandwich leave my hand. I looked back and I saw the Totodile sitting next to me eating the sandwich.

"Oh thank god that worked" I said breathing a collective sigh of relief.

"That's incredible Ethan I've had that Totodile for over a week now and I could never get him to be so docile. How did you know what to do?" said Elm as he walked over to me.

"The scar on his left arm I think he got it from his previous owner and I thought because of that he was afraid of other people, so I showed him I had nothing on me that could hurt him." I said as I stood up and got my sweatshirt and the other stuff I tossed around.

"So can I bring him with me?"

"Well Ethan I have to say I'm very impressed**.** I think it would prefect if you brought him with you**.** I think you're the only one who could teach him to like other people again, but are you going to give him a name?"

At that thought I picked up the Totodile who was still eating his sandwich and put him on the table and I look at him for a second.

"Hmmmmm, you know I had an idea for a name for long time now. I'll name you after a great and powerful river; from now on your name will be Nile**.** Well what do you say do you like it?"

Nile looked up at my and gave me a subtle look then went back to his sandwich.

"Well I guess he likes it." I said as I reached to pick Nile up.

Snap!

"I guess Nile still needs a bit more time with you before he trusts you completely. But it looks like he only gave you a love bite." the professor said chuckling to himself.

"OOOWWW, I guess you're, right." I said painfully with Nile still latched on to my hand.

"Come on Nile let go please!"

At that Nile let go and I put him on the ground to walk with me and then I grabbed Nile's pokeball along with everything else that fell out of my bag.

"Okay Elm I'm off to visit Mr. Pokemon I'll be back as soon as I can."

"Okay here, take a few potions in case Nile gets hurt." he said reaching for several purple colored bottles from a nearby cabinet.

"Thanks Elm."

I grabbed the potions and put them in my bag and then Nile and I headed outside. When we left the lab I saw a familiar face smiling at me waiting across the road.

"Hey Lyra, check out my new friend but be careful he's a bit shy."

At this I noticed Nile was hiding behind my leg and bearing his teeth at Lyra. She ran over to me with her Marill tailing behind.

"Oh my god Ethan he's so cute, what's his name?"

"I named him Nile, you know after the river." I said reluctantly, realizing how silly the name was now that I thought about it.

"Wow that's a cool name." she said kneeling down to see him.

"Really? You think so?"

"Yeah totally, Nile is a great name. Isn't that right Nile?" she said reaching for Nile.

"Careful Lyra he's not," but before I could finish she was already petting him down his back.

Wow seriously? It took me what felt like an hour and a whole display of trust to get this close to Nile and she can just walk up and pet him like she knew him. I guess that's another thing I admire about Lyra, she always has this aura of positive energy and pokemon and people alike cheer up just being around her. Even though she plays pranks on me from time to time.

"I think Nile is perfect for you Goldy, you two will make great friends, so come on lets go to the pond and have Marill and Nile swim together." she said enthusiastically.

"Really you're calling me Gold again? I thought I told you that nickname is too childish. Anyway I'd love to go but I have to go to Cherry Grove City and meet a friend of the professor's today."

"Aw really, I thought we could hang out today." she said looking down in a disappointed voice.

Feeling nervous I said "Um, don't worry I'll be back later though, we can hang out then."

"Well okay, I guess I'll see you later then. Come on Marill let's go back home." and with that she took off back into town.

I then turned to Nile.

"Well Nile guess we need to get going too, let's head for Cherry Grove City."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: New Friends and Rivals

The road to Cherry Grove was little more than beaten dirt road considering it only connected to our small town of New Bark. A large road was never needed for our town and like most roads in Johto they were mostly left open and close to nature in order to avoid disrupting the habitats of wild pokemon.

As Nile and I walked down the path I noticed that Nile was keeping a very close eye on me. He also wouldn't come any closer than five feet of me. I didn't blame him for not trusting me completely considering whoever his previous trainer was didn't treat him well and probably gave him the scar on his left arm. Heck I'm impressed that my whole charade at the lab was able to get Nile to follow me in the first place. I guess Lyra's contagious positive aura has rubbed off on me. After about an hour of walking I decided it was about time to stop for food.

"Nile let's stop for a sec I bet your hungry after all that walking."

Nile's ever watchful eye on me seemed to relax a bit. I guess the promise of food made him feel safer. I found a nearby log on the side of the road and sat down on it, and then I pulled up my bag and reached in it for a sandwich and some food for Nile. I placed the food for Nile closer to me hoping to get Nile to break his five feet safety distance.

"Nile come here and sit closer, you know I won't hurt you."

Nile paused for a bit but he then waddled over and climbed the log to sit next to me but never took his eye off me. While he was eating I decided to get a better look at his scar. It was about four inches long and ran vertically on the outside of his left forearm. It looked like it was made by a knife or at least something very sharp, and that it hurt a lot. I reached for his left arm to get a better look at it, but as I was moving my hand Nile snapped his jaws at me.

"Whoa, Nile calm down, I just wanted to look at your arm."

Nile then looked down and made a low chirp like he was sorry he almost bit me.

"It looks like it hurt didn't it? You must be afraid I'm going to hurt you again aren't you?"

Nile nodded his head but was still looking down. I could tell he was sad and that he was remembering the time when his trainer cut him.

"Look, Nile I just want to look at your arm and see if there's anything wrong with it. But if you don't let me see it you won't be able to trust me. I promise I will never hurt you."

Nile was very distraught, I could tell he wanted to trust me, but he couldn't stop thinking of the time he was cut. After a very long pause I was about to give up on it, when he held out his left arm. He was looking away with a tensed face like he was about to get a flu shot.

I saw what Nile did and said, "Okay Nile I'm just going to look at your arm, you'll be fine."

I slowly reached for his arm watching his expressions carefully. With every inch I moved my hand I could tell Nile was fighting the urge to bite me. Still my hand came closer and as I grabbed his arm he sharply looked away and hissed as if someone had just put antiseptic on an open cut. But when he opened his eyes and looked back at me he saw I was only examining his arm and nothing else. The scar looked nasty and was a slightly paler color of blue than the rest of his skin, but the arm's muscles and bones underneath felt normal and everything functioned well.

"See just like I promised, and it looks like your arm is fine but I doubt that the scar will go away, sorry."

I could tell Nile was very distraught and didn't know how to feel. It took a lot of courage to do what he did, considering his scar was a permanent reminder of what people could do to him. After I let go of his arm I patted him on the head and he then nuzzled his snout against my arm. But then Nile looked towards the forest and jumped down from the log and started growling at the forest line.

"What is it Nile?"

A Pidgey broke out of the tree line in front of us and was darting towards us. It must have smelled our food and was intent on stealing it. I was surprised to see Nile jump from the log and ran forward with the fire to fight in his eyes. I couldn't believe how eager he was to take the Pidgey on.

"Okay Nile let's see what you can do."

But before I could tell Nile what to do the Pidgey came in flying low like a dive bomber and went for a quick attack. The Pidgey landed a blow on Nile and shot back around in the air before soaring in for the next attack.

"Nile, try to land a bite next time he comes around but stay on the move."

Nile started to run along the side of the road and when the Pidgey came in for the attack Nile side stepped and tried to snap his jaws at the Pidgey but missed narrowly. The Pidgey in order to avoid the bite lost control and crashed a few feet away from Nile.

"Quickly Nile, while its down go in for the bite!"

Nile ran up with jaws ready and landed a bite on the Pidgey's right wing. But amazingly, Nile then used his momentum to flip over the bird pokemon like an acrobat. While still latched on Nile landed on his feet and whipped his head forward releasing the Pidgey launching it several feet. The attack threw Nile off balance and he fell forward flat on his face. But his attack was so fluid and well executed; I had no idea Nile could do that. The Pidgey, recovering from the dizzying flip, got up and flew off. The pokemon could tell Nile was too much to for it to handle. I ran over to Nile to congratulate him.

"Nile that was amazing I had no idea you could do that!"

I could tell Nile was unsure about how to feel; he obviously wasn't used to praise. I went to pick him up and I gave him a hug. When I looked at his face I thought I saw him crack a smile for the first time. After I looked at any potential wounds we were back on the road again. As we were walking Nile was much closer to me than before and he was less tense in his composure.

As I thought about the fight we had I couldn't help but think about other pokemon trainers, pokemon gyms, the pokemon league, and even the world's current champion Red. Whom no one has seen since he beat the Pokémon league's Elite Four and the Champion, who I think his name was Lance or something, or maybe it was some other guy named Blue, I wasn't quite sure. I remember three years ago hearing about him on the news and how he inspired me to dream about taking on the league myself. But now that I have Nile maybe my old dream was close to becoming a reality.

As we kept on walking we encountered several Sentrets and Pidgeys, but me and Nile were able to repel them all back into the woods. Each time we fought I could see Nile loved the thrill of fighting**;** he must love idea of a challenge. After a while it was close to mid-day and we reached Cherry Grove city. It wasn't a very large city but it was still bigger than New Bark. It had several tall buildings no larger than four stories, but most were only a single story. As I entered town I noticed Nile was clinging closely to me, he wasn't very happy of the other people he didn't trust.

"It's okay Nile I know you don't trust them just stay with me and you'll be fine."

I've been to Cherry Grove once before in the summer to enjoy some of their beaches but this place isn't New Bark and I myself wasn't exactly the most comfortable being in a large city. Cities stress me out because of all the people. I'm incredibly shy and I tend to avoid eye contact with others on the streets. I wish I wasn't so shy, and it's kind of ironic that Nile is looking up to me to be his support when I'm just as afraid of other people. After we were able to finally cut across the city Nile and I then set off towards the next road. We made our way up the road and found Mr. Pokemon's residence. It was an old fashioned house much like my home in New Bark.

Oh crap, I was starting to get that nervous feeling in my gut again. I'm not exactly huge on meeting new people. Damn this is just typical of me, I was perfectly fine just second ago with meeting this Mr. Pokemon, but now I'm having second thoughts. I stood on the front porch and felt like I should just leave, but I couldn't, I had a job to do. I just have to suck it up and do this. I knocked on the door and an old man with a white mustache wearing a brown suit and hat came to the door.

"Um…hello…are you Mr. Pokemon?" I stuttered.

"Why yes I am, can I help you?" he said with a welcoming smile on his face.

"Um…my name is Ethan Goldberg…and… I'm here to…pick up something for Professor Elm." I said nervously scratching the back of my neck.

"Oh so you're the one he sent, come in, come in I was just talking to my friend professor Oak."

Professor Oak? I remembered hearing that he's a famous researcher in field of pokemon, is he really here? I walked into the house whose interior was very old fashioned with PC's and research materials scatter all over. The house was clearly not built for a researcher but Mr. Pokemon made it fit to his needs. Over in the corner I saw who I could only guess was Professor Oak looking over a research pamphlet.

"Oak come here a second**;** this young man as come on behalf of Professor Elm to pick up the thing I showed you earlier. So you two can chat, and I'll be back with the package." said Mr. Pokemon as he walked off to get whatever it was he talking about.

"Oh is he now, well then hello my name is Professor Oak, it's nice to meet you, and look at that you have a Totodile. Does he have a name?"

Oh my god, it is him. I was really starting to feel nervous now and I could feel my palms getting sweaty.

"uh…yeah…his name is Nile" I said.

"But um…be careful he doesn't trust other people very well." I said motion my hand.

"Yes I can see that by the way he stays close to you and from that scar on his arm. I guess his previous owner did that to him right?"

"uh yeah, how did you…know?"

"It's my specialty. I research the bonds that people and pokemon share and I'm very good at reading a pokemon's body language. So I take it you had to work hard for him to trust you didn't you?"

"Yes I did."

"Well I hope you two become closer friends. Have you thought about becoming a trainer and entering the league? I hear Totodiles make excellent members of any pokemon team."

I paused for a moment and was starting to have serious doubts about that idea.

"I have… but um…I don't think I'm cut out for it."

"Nonsense, if you could get Nile here to trust you after what he's been through, then I believe that you are fully capable of taking on the pokemon league. You actually remind me a lot of another trainer who became very successful in the league."

"Wow…you…you really think so?"

I couldn't believe it the world famous Oak was telling me I was capable of following my dream.

"Absolutely, here I want you to have this." he reached in his pocket and grabbed a red device.

"Here, it's the newest pokedex, it can tell you anything you need to know on the pokemon you come across."

I hesitantly reached out and said "oh wow, this is pretty cool."

Before I had much time to use it Mr. Pokemon came in with what looked like a large egg cover in red, yellow, and blue triangles on it.

"Here you go Ethan this is the egg I wanted you to take to Professor Elm. I got this from a day care center the other day, though I don't know much about eggs. But I know Elm will be able to use it for his research." said Mr. Pokemon while handing me the egg.

"Wow, this egg is huge."

It was so big it took up half the space in my bag.

"Well it looks like you and Oak are getting along well, but it's getting late and I'm guessing Elm would like you back before the day's end" said Mr. Pokemon.

"True, we wouldn't want to keep him waiting. Ethan before you go, here's my number. Call me if you have any questions" Oak said as he handed me a business card.

"Thanks Oak…I guess I should be going now, come on Nile let's not keep Elm waiting." I said looking down at my Totodile.

As me and Nile walked our way out of the house my phone rang. I looked at the caller ID and it was Professor Elm.

"Hey Elm, how are yo…"

I was cut off before I could finish.

"Oh no this is bad, very bad! Ethan come back here as quickly as possible we had a break in, someone stole our two pokemon. Just get here quickly! Oh god how could this happen?"

Then the call was dropped.

A break in, at the lab? Oh god I hope everything is okay.

"Nile we need to get back home right away come on lets go!"

With that Nile and I dashed back to Cherry Grove. Once we arrived in the city the sun was setting and the air was starting to get cold. I had to cut across the city to get to the road that led to New Bark. As I was running I looked over my shoulder to check to see if Nile was still behind me, but then I ran straight into someone else who was running was well. We both collapsed on the hard asphalt and I banged my head pretty hard. When I got up I saw who ran into me and I gasped. It was the red haired kid from earlier. It was at that moment I realized who had stolen Elms pokemon. I shot up and yelled.

"It's you from earlier, you were the one who broke into the Lab and stole the pokemon didn't you!" I said pointing at him.

"Hey ass wipe, how the hell do you know that!?" said the red headed kid as he got up looking like he would hurt me.

"Look I have no time for irritating weak bastards like you, so just get the hell out of my way!" he said curling his hands up into fists.

"I'm not letting you leave without you handing over those pokemon." I said standing my ground and Nile bearing his teeth.

"Fine if you want to see those pokemon so god damn much, then here have a look." he said tossing a pokeball in the air and in a bright flash of light a four legged stout pokemon with a leaf on its head appeared.

"Go Chikorita attack!"

The Green pokemon charged in towards me but Nile shot out from behind me and tackled the Chikorita stopping it right in its tracks.

"Nile, good job, now use bite!" I shouted

"Chikorita dodge it and attack again!" the kid yelled with anger in his voice.

The Chikorita jumped back as Nile clamped down. The stout pokemon side stepped around his attacks and with a flick of its head it used its leaf to swipe Nile across the chest. Nile tried to bite back but then the grass pokemon shifted to the side and flicked its head again for another swipe of its leaf. Nile staggered backwards from the attacks. I could tell that leaf did a lot of damage to Nile because of his water type and he looked weakened by the blows.

Nile tried to dodge the next flurry of attacks but the Chikorita kept wailing on him. Nile desperately tried to shift out of the way of an incoming swipe and retaliated with and upper cut with his reptilian claws. The Chikorita stepped back and looked up at Nile. The green pokemon smirked at him when it noticed how hard Nile was trying to stand. Nile breathed heavily and looked back the Chikorita with a fire in his eyes, but it was weakening I could tell we was about to collapse.

"Nile, come on don't give up. Let's do what you did before with the Pidgey, so get ready for his attack then show him what you can do!"

Nile readied himself and roared its challenge at the Chikorita. Then with his remaining strength he started running towards the green pokemon with jaws ready to go.

"This kid is all talk, Chikorita go and finish the weakling off!" the kid said pointing his hand to issue his command.

The Chikorita reared up like a bull and charged in at full speed towards Nile, as he too came in for the attack at a blinding speed. As the Chikorita jumped up to twirl its head again Nile ducked and dashed under the jump and clamped down on one of Chikorita's legs. Using his intense speed he kicked his legs up and smashed the grass pokemon's under belly. Then while still in the air Nile used his legs momentum to flip Chikorita around wrenching it out of its trajectory into a summer salt and crashed down on top of it.

"What the? How the hell did that happen?! No Chikorita get up you weak moron!" the kid said shocked where he stood and clenching his fists.

But the Chikorita was down and out; the shock of being slammed in the gut and being ripped out of the air straight to ground was too much for it to take.

"God damn it you useless pokemon get back here!" he said using his pokeball to return it.

"Look kid you won because of a fluke that's all, so piss off and stay out of my way." he said as he dashed towards me and shoved me to the ground.

My head banged against the road and I cringed as I grabbed the back of my head out of pain. As I tried to get back up I looked to my side and I saw an ID card. I picked it up and saw it was the kid's ID. He was as old as me and his name was…Silver.

"Hey give that back you freaking thief!"

Silver was over my shoulder in an instant and yanked his ID out of my hand.

"Ah shit, you saw my name, whatever I don't need to worry about you anyway, your pokemon is in no condition to fight and I have second one ready to finish you off, so just go home before my fire pokemon breaks his foot off in your ass!" he said holding out a second pokeball with his finger on the button.

"What!" I said as my eyes widened with despair.

He had another pokemon, there was no way I could fight back. I sat their in fear as I stared up at Silver's intense grimace. My moment of triumph became meaningless, Silver had stolen both of Elm's pokemon, and I was powerless to stop him. Nile couldn't fight another pokemon, and if I tried Nile would be seriously injured.

"Now that you've come to terms about your defeat, why don't you take your sorry ass home, before I make your Totodile regret it was ever born!" said Silver with his finger itching to release the pokemon.

I frantically crawled my way back to Nile still looking up at him terrified he would release the pokemon. Silver chuckled to himself and put the ball away as he started to run away into town. He was gone before I could get up. I quickly tried to help Nile with his wounds and while doing so I couldn't stop thinking about his name. Silver. It's almost as if it was supposed to be the opposite of the nickname Lyra used to call me and still does from time to time in order to make fun of my eye color…Gold

It's like I was meant to meet him, my polar opposite. This was weird; I was never one for the whole idea of fate. But this wasn't the time to dwell on that, I had to find him or else it will be my fault that Elms pokemon got stolen.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3. Two Nights I Won't Forget

I spent several hours in Cherry Groove combing the streets in search of Silver to no avail. I had to come to terms that he was gone, for all I knew he could have been in the next town. I felt like this whole situation was my fault, and it was. I couldn't believe that this Silver kid was able to break into Elm's lab and steal not only the Chikorita but based on what he said it sounded like he also had the Cyndaquil too. Why today, why did this have to happen?

If only I could've beaten him. The fact he could have beaten me if he wanted to was eating away at me. I felt victorious with Nile coming out on top, but then he had that second pokemon and I felt defeated and powerless. Nile was in no condition to fight, and I let my carelessness from earlier cause this. And now that I can't find him I feel like I let Professor Elm down and let his pokemon get stolen. Damn if only I warned him about Silver, but I thought he couldn't do anything so I ignored him like an idiot! God why did I do that, I'm so stupid!

In the wake of my self loathing I noticed how late it was. I had to come to the realization that I needed to head back to New Bark, or else everyone would be worried sick if they weren't already. I had no time to go to a pokemon center so I gave Nile some of the medicine I had and let him rest in my bag. It was getting dark now, with only sparse remains of the sun set left in the sky. The road was much darker than the sky due to the surrounding trees casting a gloomy shadow across my path.

As I walked I reflected on everything that happened today. My thoughts were sporadic and all over the place as I thought about meeting Nile, getting the pokedex from Professor Oak, hearing his encouragement, and then Silver ruining everything. As if fate wanted me to know I couldn't succeed so it sent Silver at me just to show me my dreams were silly and pointless. Maybe I should just give up on my dream of taking on the pokemon league. If I couldn't prevent something like this from happening what hope would I have in the pokemon league? As that thought lingered in my head I stopped in my tracks when I heard a rustle in the nearby bush.

"What was that?" I said turning to face the source of the sound with my imagination running wild.

I know it's probably just my over active mind acting up, but I could've sworn that sounded nothing like a Pidgey or Sentret.

_"You're right."_

A shiver ran down my spine as I tensed up; did I just hear a voice in my head? I quickly turned trying to find a source of the sound.

I looked behind me shaking where I stood and said. "Who's there?"

_"Who, who, who? I'm a Ghost._"

I felt like I was going mad. What the hell was happening? I frantically looked around trying to find anything, anything that could explain what was going on.

"_What's the matter? You afraid you're going make another mistake? If only you could stop him."_

"Shut up, Shut up,Shut up! Get out of my head!" I said with my hands over my ears.

I was panicking, I didn't know what was going on. I turned again looking for the voice in my head and then I saw it. It was on a branch hanging over the road. It was round and standing on one leg, it had two arrows protruding from its shape. The moon was just behind the figure illuminating its silhouette. Then suddenly two red eyes flared open and it turned sideways.

_"Run, before you lose again!"_

I couldn't think, I just ran. The next thing I knew I was sprinting straight down the road and I could see New Bark coming up at the end. I looked back to the road I'd just ran down wondering what the hell just happened. What the heck was that thing? Was it really a ghost? How could it speak to me? Was I going mad?

I had to forget what just happened, I needed to get a hold of myself, and I had to get back to lab. Walking back into town I saw the dreaded place where it all started, just looking at the lab made me feel ashamed; I couldn't stand to face Elm knowing it was my fault Silver got away. But there was nothing else I could do, I had to go in or else things would just get worse, so I walked in. On the inside I saw Elm talking to an officer.

"Okay Elm one last time to make sure I got everything. You say a kid roughly 5'7"with dark red hair and a black jacket stole the two pokemon you had in the lab, and last you saw him he was heading for Cherry Groove?" said the officer going over his note pad.

"Yes that's everything I know and…Ethan, thank goodness you here!" said Elm noticing I had walked in**.**

"Professor I have to tell you something." I said in an ashamed voice with my head held low.

"I know the name of who stole your pokemon." I paused.

"His name is Silver... I know this because I fought him, and then I let him get away. He had both of the pokemon and Nile couldn't fight both of them."

"Silver huh." said the officer jotting it down into his notes.

"Well kid thanks for the info. I'll be going now Elm, call me if anything else comes up." And with that the officer left the lab.

"Elm I'm sorry, it's all my fault." I said trying to hold back tears of frustration.

"Ethan what are you talking about?" said Elm with a concerned look.

"Look it's my fault okay! Earlier today I saw that kid doing something suspicious on the side of the lab, but I thought he couldn't get in so I didn't tell you! Then I wasn't strong enough to stop him at Cherry Groove, all I could do was beat the Chikorita due to some fluke of luck, but he had the Cyndaquil too! He could've finished Nile off if he wanted to! Oak was wrong about me I'm not cut out to be a trainer!" I said on the verge of a breakdown.

I felt so ashamed of my screw up I couldn't even look at Elm in the eye. I was convinced he was going to take Nile from me for letting Silver get paused for a moment to process what he just heard.

Then he put his hand on my shoulder and said, "Ethan look, sure things would be better now if you told me about this guy when you had the chance. But you tried your best to solve the problem by trying to stop him, I couldn't have asked any more of you, and you made the right decision not to continue the fight or else Nile would have been seriously hurt, right?"

"Look Elm I can't just…just… I just can't okay, I'm sorry I screwed up. I can't be relied on. I should just give up on the pokemon league."

"What you're going to give up?" Elms voice turned stern.

"What happened to the Ethan I knew whose old nickname stood for what he strove for, Gold. You would go on about how your name would be the thing that kept you going when you were ten years old. Don't' look at Silver as your big screw up. Think of him and obstacle you have to overcome. I know you well enough to say that you, more than anyone, have what it takes to pursue your dream. And I think it's time you adopted that old nickname of yours. Cause I'll be honest with you, Ethan never really had that same ring as Gold. So what do say Gold, are you the kid I know you are?"

Gold? I forgot how much I liked that name and what it meant to me. Lyra calls me Gold in order to make fun of my last name and my eye color, she says she never saw someone with gold eyes before and so that's what she called me. When I turned fifteen I decided to go back to Ethan instead of Gold because I thought it was too childish. But now maybe Elm was right, no he is right. I will won't give up now. So I swallowed my shame and said.

"Your right Elm, I shouldn't give up now. And next time I see Silver, I will beat him and I'm also going to take on the league and I will win!"

"That's the spirit Ethan or should I say Gold." said Elm happy to see me cheer up.

"Well we've both had a long night so I think you should go home now and start fresh in the morning." he said turning around and heading for his office

"Wait Elm I almost forgot!"

I reached in my bag trying not to wake Nile who was cradled up next to the egg.

"This is what Mr. Pokemon wanted me to give you." I said as I handed the egg to Elm.

"A pokemon egg? I haven't had the chance to see one of these in years, this is exactly what I needed for my research I should start immediately." he said enthusiastically like kid with new toy as he walked off with it in hand.

"Um, Elm don't you need sleep?"

"Science never sleeps Gold, but you need to, so go home and rest. Oh and one more thing here have these pokeballs, if you're going to take on the league you're going to need to build a strong team. Remember though, the league rules only permit six pokemon to be used at any time. So chose carefully who to put on your team, well good night and good luck."

He gave me the pokeballs and went into his office. I put the balls in my bag and then I headed home. When morning broke the next day I woke up showed my mom Nile and told her about my plan to take on the league. She was more than happy to see me want to take part in the pokemon league, she even offered to save money for me on my journey in case I needed emergency funds. After that I headed out to the local pokemon center to check if Nile needed any more aid. While I was there I thought about who my next pokemon should be. It didn't take long till I knew exactly who to put on my team, that 'ghost' from the other night. Once I left the center I saw Lyra across the street with her Marill.

"Hey, Goldy boy!" she said running over to me with her Marill following behind.

"Where were you yesterday Ethan, you promised you would hang out with me, you had me worried." she said with her concerned chocolate eyes staring at me.

"I'm sorry Lyra, I was late because I ran into the guy who stole Elm's pokemon. Unfortunately he got away, but I don't' want to talk about it if that's okay." I said shrugging.

"Um, okay Ethan, if you don't want to talk about that's fine."

"And Lyra, can you call me by my old nickname again. I uh...I've kinda grown sick of my real name to be honest." I said sorta half laughing.

"Ha! I knew it was only a matter of time till you gave up on your boring old name!" she said triumphantly like she won a bet or something.

"It just goes to show that I'm awesome at choosing names." she said in cocky voice was she gestured towards herself.

"Jeez you act as if you won money or something, I'm just asking you to call me by my nickname." I retorted.

"Fine whatever, so what were you planning to do today Goldy boy?" Lyra asked.

"Well I uh...I've decided to take on the pokemon league like I always wanted to...so today I need to catch my second Pokémon." I said holding up my hand to show that I was determined.

Lyra's chocolate eyes lit up with excitement.

"Oh how exciting, what are you going to catch, a Sentret or a Pidgey? Oh what about a Rattata, I hear they make great fighters?" she said holding her hands together thinking about all the possibilities.

"Actually I had another idea," I said trying not to blush realizing how silly I would sound.

"…but you'll just laugh at me."

"I won't laugh, come on tell me." she said tugging on my sweat shirt and giving me a cute smile.

"Okay fine, but promise not to laugh." I said caving into that charm of hers.

"I promise, come on tell me already." she said impatiently.

"Alright fine," I said in a quiet voice to make sure only she heard me.

"…when I was walking back to New Bark last night I saw…a ghost. It was perched up in a tree and it had two red eyes and I've never seen anything like it. Nah who am I kidding you probably think I'm crazy." I said scratching the back of my neck nervously.

"Gold that sounds awesome, you have to show me, come on lets go looking for it!"

I was shocked I didn't think she'd believe me, but then again this is Lyra the girl who's eager for any excuse to go exploring.

"Wait Lyra we can't go right now, I think we have to wait till night or else it won't show up." I said trying to keep her excitment undercontrol before she goes running off into the woods.

"Ah really? *sigh* Fine I'll meet you at the road tonight, don't be late or you'll regret it." she said as she started running home.

Nile and I went home as well and got ready for tonight. Once night finally fell I got my bag and hat together and then Nile and I set off. I made my way to the road and I saw Lyra and her Marill waiting for me.

"Gold come on lets go already, I want to see the ghost." she said waving her flash light.

"Alright Lyra, follow me it's about ten minutes down the road from here."

"Oh I'm so excited." she said enthusiastically.

We then set off into the night with me leading the way in search of the mysterious '_ghost'_ I saw. As we walked Lyra asked me all sorts of questions like what it looked like and what it was doing. But one question in particular made me feel embarrassed.

"So Gold, were you scared when you saw it?" she asked in a coy tone.

"Me, not a chance." I said trying to sound tough but Lyra shot me down with a sly look on her face.

"Oh _sure_ you weren't." she said sarcastically mocking me.

"I was not." I retorted.

She stepped ahead of me and made me stop in my tracks.

"Gold, I've known you for five years now I know when you're lying to me, you can't hide it, I can see it on your face." she said pointing at my face with a devilish smile like she caught red handed.

Damn she can read me like a book.

"Okay fine I admit it I was scared." I said reluctantly.

"Ha, I knew it! Score one for me!" she said with her hands on her hips triumphantly.

"Whatever, you would've been scarred too if you saw it." I said trying to make a comeback.

"No I wouldn't, you're just a wuss." she said playfully while giggling to herself.

"I am not! Ughh, look it doesn't matter cause tonight is different though. I'm not going to get scared tonight. Tonight that ghost will be my next pokemon, isn't that right Nile?"

Nile gave me roar of approval as we entered the area I met the mystery pokemon in. It was a much wider portion of road that opened up like a camp site. Some of the trees nearby where dead and gave the area an eerie tone. There was a light fog rolling in as well, which only added to the creepy atmosphere.

"This is the spot Lyra, you see that branch?" I said pointing up towards the canopy of dead trees.

"That's where it was when I last saw it."

Lyra looked up at the branch and I could tell she was trying to picture the ghost I described to her as if it was perched there looking down at us.

"Okay then if this is the spot then Marill lets look around and see if we can find anything." said Lyra as her Marill nodded and started looking around while Nile and I did the same.

We slit up to cover more ground, I took the left side of the road and Lyra took the other. I combed through many bushes and even climbed a few trees to try and get a better view.

"Lyra did you find anything yet?" I said as I descended a nearby tree.

*crack*

Suddenly the branch I was holding onto snapped in half.

"Oh crap! *thud*" I said as fell into the jagged bushes below.

Lyra looked over at me and laughed at my predicament.

"Are you sure you didn't just bump your head and saw a ghost?" she said giggling.

"Arrgh, that's not funny, I'm telling you I know I saw a ghost here. I don't know why it isn't showing up." I said as I tried to free myself from the brushes I fell into.

Once Lyra stopped giggling I noticed something odd. All the ambient sounds of the night had seemed to stop, it was and it was almost silent. In fact, as I looked around I noticed that the fog was seemingly getting thicker too.

"Lyra, is it just me or is it awfully quiet?" I said as I walked over to her while still looking around.

"Actually, now that you mention it, I can't hear any wild pokemon. Where do you think they went?" she asked while looking around in the hopes of finding some explanation.

Then out of the cold dead silence, we heard a rustle in the bushes off to the side.

"Gold, did you hear that?" she said with a hint of uneasiness in her voice

"Yeah, I did." I said as I looked toward the sound.

Then we heard a louder rustle, this time from behind us. We both turned towards it hoping to find the source but we could see nothing. I was starting get nervous and I could feel a small shiver run down my spine.

"That sounded closer!" Lyra said worriedly as she moved closer to me.

As she inched her way towards me we heard yet another louder rustle off to our left, then our right, then our left again, we soon could hear the rustling moving all over the place.

"Oh god where is it?" Lyra said fearfully as she tugged on the sleeve of my sweat shirt.

She wasn't the only one scared though. My thoughts were racing as I recalled the other night. My breathing became irregular as my hands clenched together. Both of us were trembling were we stood wondering what might happen next. Nile and Marill, who weren't that far from us, were standing still looking around trying to find the source of the sounds as well. The sounds of broken twigs and tree branches continued to grow louder and louder as Lyra and I inched closer together. Lyra clenched her fingers together as she pulled tighter on my sweat shirt. Then the rustling ceased and we stood there afraid to move for what felt like forever.

"Is, is it gone?" said Lyra.

"I, I, I think so." I stuttered as I heard Lyra breathe a collective sigh of relief.

_"Why are you still here?"_

"What the hell was that!?" Lyra screamed as she wrapped her arms around my left arm.

Lyra's slim body was press up against me as I felt a terrible shiver run down my spine. Lyra and I were shaking horribly as we stood there wondering where the hell that voice came from.

_"Did you come back for more coward? Who, who ,who do you think you are? Oh, I see you brought me a snack, she looks tasty."_

Lyra shrieked and squeezed my arm even tighter.

"It wants to eat me! Don't let it get me!" she tried to scream but came out muffled as she buried her face into my chest.

I tried to comfort her, but I was terrified out of my whits and could do little to help her.

_"Look at that, so scared you two can barely stand."_

I had to get hold of myself. I had to fight this ghost; I had to prove I could conquer my fears. I shook my head and pulled myself together as I tried to find Nile who wasn't very far from us.

"Nile get ready, this is it!" I yelled.

Nile nodded and ran towards me with Marill tailing him. Lyra was turning her head slightly, but still pressed up against me, to try and see what was happening.

"Hey Ghost! If you're so high and mighty why don't you show yourself!" I said trying to sound brave.

"So where are you?!"

_"Right behind you."_

My stomach churned at those words as Lyra and I froze where we stood. After a few moments of paralyzing fear Lyra started to shake violently as she squeezed my arm even tighter. We both knew we had to turn around, there was no other way, but neither of us wanted face whatever horrible thing stood behind us. Then slowly, we started to turn and then we saw it. Two glowing red eyes.

My heart sank, and Lyra almost screamed as she buried her face once more. I wasn't crazy, the ghost from before was here, staring at me. It tilted its head as if mocking me, to see if I would live up to my bold words. I was about run, but then I heard Nile roar.

Nile then shot out from behind us and charged in full of zeal ready to fight. It was at that moment I came to my sense's and realized what I came here to do. Nile with jaws wide open charged the pair of glowing eyes, but before he could land a bite the Pokemon flipped over him and while in the air its eyes shined extra bright and it casted a beam of light on Nile. Then when it landed it tackled Nile in the back from behind. Nile then turned around landed a bite but it didn't seem to do much as the pokemon broke free from his jaws and flew around to a nearby tree. Once it was perched its eyes glowed bright again this time staring intensely at Nile.

"What's it doing?" said Lyra turning her head to see but with her cheek still pressed up to my chest.

"I think it's looking for Nile's weak point or something. Nile don't let it get a fix on you it's trying to figure out how to beat you, get moving!"

In response Nile was on the move again and was trying to make his way to the tree the pokemon was in. But once Nile got close the pokemon flew off the tree and moved to another one, and kept doing this over and over taunting Nile. In anger Nile did something new, he inhaled deeply and then he shot out a jet of water from his mouth trying to hit the mystery pokemon.

"Whoa, I didn't know you could do that Nile!" I said shocked.

"Okay then, now do that again and try shooting it out of the sky and then go in for the bite when he's down!"

Nile fired off several water jets and one of them hit the pokemon directly and threw it off balance causing it to fall from the canopy. With this new opening Nile rushed in for the bite with blinding speed. But the pokemon was up on its feet before he could make it and turned to tackle Nile. Nile landed the bite but the tackle threw him off balance and caused him to fall back. Then the pokemon flew up and then came crashing down for another tackle.

"Roll out of the way Nile!" I yelled

Nile rolled and narrowly dodged then shot to his feet.

"Now use your water gun and take it out!"

Nile then fired off several more water jets and each one hit home. This made the pokemon fall down and finally out. Then I saw my opportunity so I used my spare arm to grab a pokeball out of my bag.

"Now your mine ghost!" I said throwing the ball.

The ball opened in midair and a beam of light shot towards the pokemon trapping it inside. The ball then closed and fell to the ground.

"Come on, come on, work." I said nervously.

It rolled around once, twice, three times….*click*.

"Oh my god, you did it Gold!" said Lyra shocked.

"I can't believe it, I did it, yes!" I said pumping my fist in the air victoriously.

"Now it's time to find out what this pokemon is once and for all!" I said reaching for my pokedex and some medicine as Lyra and I walked over to the ball.

I picked up the ball and released the pokemon inside. Then I gave it some medicine to make it feel better after the hard fight it had with Nile. As I gave it the medicine I noticed that the pokemon looked more like a bird than any ghost I've heard of. After I gave it medicine it flew to a nearby tree and tilted its head.

I opened the pokedex and it said."Hoothoot, the Owl pokemon. It has a perfect sense of time. Whatever happens, it keeps rhythm by precisely tilting its head in time. They are sometimes known to have psychic powers and have a high durability. When it feels that its home is threaten Hoothoots will use its psychic powers to play with people's emotions, some even claim they see ghosts from these encounters"

"A Hoothoot? But I thought you were a ghost?" I said slightly disappointed.

"I can't believe it; it was just using psychic powers to make us think it could talk. It was never going to hurt us; it was just defending its home." Lyra said confounded.

"Wait you mean it can't talk? It was just screwing with our heads?" I said looking at her then back to the pokemon perched in the tree.

"I guess that means this pokemon didn't have anything against me the other night it was just a trick of the mind that played off my emotions. I can't believe it, all this time it was just a Hoothoot that liked playing tricks on me." I said scratching the back of my head.

"Well now that I caught you, you're going to need a name, let me think, you're a trickster and you specialize in the unknown, hhhmmmmm, that's perfect!" I said snapping my fingers.

"From now on your name will be Merlin, after the great sorcerer of fairytales."

Merlin then tilted his head as if to say its likes the name, he then flew over to me and landed nearby. It was then when I noticed some thing odd. It wasn't anything to do with my new pokemon, but rather I felt something odd. I then noticed that my arm was getting numb and that Lyra was still holding on to me rather tight. In fact I could feel her still shaking slightly.

"Um, Lyra." I said.

"Yeah?" she said looking up at me.

"You can let go of my arm now."

"Oh, I'm sorry Gold!" Lyra said releasing my arm with her face blushing bright red.

I can't remember the last time I saw her blush before. She's always been the one who made me blush when she makes fun of me, not the other way around.

"So um, I uh, I'm sorry about that I got a little freaked out there." She stuttered trying to hide her embarrassed face.

"Um, it's late so how about we head home, okay?" she added

Something made the bush rustle behind us.

"Eeekkk!"

Lyra jumped and grabbed my arm again. As she looked back towards the noise I chuckled to myself.

"You know Lyra, if you want to, you can hold my arm all the way back, I don't mind." I said with a smirk on my face.

Lyra's face blushed even more than before as she looked up at me realizing she was holding me again.

She jerked back and said, "No I'm sorry, I'll be fine really."

"Alright, if you say so. Merlin return." I said holding up his pokeball and with a bright flash Merlin was in his pokeball.

I did the same for Nile and so did Lyra for her Marill. Then we made our way back home. After walking for about five minutes Lyra stopped and said.

"Um Gold, there's something I want to ask you." She said nervously holding her arm.

"Sure what is it?" I said turning to face her.

"Um, since you're going to compete in the pokemon league I've been thinking about pursuing my dream too. I've always wanted to participate in pokemon contests and Marill and I have been working on some routines. But that's not what I wanted to ask you, I was wondering if you could, I mean if I could, you know, um, you know, I could um…"

She looked very concerned like she was afraid of what I would say if she told me.

"If you could what?" I said moving closer to her.

"If I could, um, uh, if I could you know, come…with…you." she said nervously.

"I mean cause, you're my best friend and all, and I need someone like you to cheer for me or else I don't think I could do it by myself. And I was going to miss you if you left tomorrow, so please can I come with you?" She said frantically trying to explain herself.

I paused for a moment thinking it over. As I stood there I could see Lyra's chocolate eyes staring back at me, she looked like she had just told me her worst secret and was scared at how I would react.

I thought it over and I said. "Of course you can come with me. I think that would be best for both of our dreams if we stick together."

Lyra's face lit up and she hugged me.

"You're the best Gold, thank you so much this means a lot, thank you!"

She then stepped back and smiled at me.

"Well come on we have a big day ahead of us tomorrow so let's head home." I said and she nodded and we made our way back home.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4: Our Journey Begins

Today is the day I finally start my journey to take on the pokemon league and oddly enough Lyra has decided to come with me to be my support as well as support her goal to participate in pokemon contests. I find it kind of odd why Lyra seemed so sudden and nervous when she asked to come with me. She's always been so smooth with the way she talks and, as far as I could tell, never had any problems talking to me before. So what made her so nervous when she asked to come with me?

I packed everything I would need for my journey, including spare clothes, a map, a small tent, food, medicine, and anything else I could think of that might be useful. I walked downstairs to say goodbye to my mom.

"Goodbye Mom, I'm leaving and I won't be back till I've won." I said fixing my favorite black and gold cap to my head.

"Goodbye Ethan, I mean Gold, sorry I forgot you wanted to be called that now, have fun, don't give up and remember you can always come back if you need money." she said hugging me.

"Take care of your pokemon Gold, as well as Lyra, I think it's great you two decided to travel together. Be sure to support each other and good luck." she said with a tear in her eye.

"I can't believe how fast you're growing up."

She let go of me and waved goodbye.

"Goodbye mom." I said leaving the house with Nile right next to me.

I walked to the edge of town where I saw Lyra and Marill waiting for us.

"Gold lets go already, seriously was your mom that sappy?" she said smiling and giving me a sly look like she was teasing me.

"You know her; she's so emotional. I couldn't leave without a whole speech about growing up. Anyway here's the plan for today."

I pulled out the map and Lyra walked and leaned over to see. While Nile walked over to a rock and slumped over it. Guess he isn't much of a morning person.

"Okay so today we'll walk to Cherry Grove and take a lunch break there and pick up anything that we may need. Then we'll make our way to Violet city and spend the night in a hotel there. Sometime today I also plan to work with Merlin to find out what kind moves he knows, so any questions?" I said looking up from the map into her chocolate eyes.

"Umm not really, so can we go already I've been standing here for like twenty minutes waiting for you show up." she said in an impatient voice.

"Okay let's go then. Nile we're heading out!"

Nile chirped out a yawn and got up rubbing his eyes, Marill chuckled at this and Nile snapped his jaws to the comment. Guess Nile isn't much for mockery. Me and Lyra laughed at the two bickering. We were walking for about 10 minutes when I asked Lyra.

"So Lyra, you said you wanted to be in pokemon contests right? So what made you want to do that all of a sudden? Cause I can't remember you ever talking about it before."

"Oh um, I guess you can say I was inspired."

"By what?" I said confused.

"Um**…**" she paused, and then chuckled.

"It's a secret."

Oh great another secret, she knows how to push my buttons and teasing me with secrets was one of them.

"Come on tell me." I said.

"Nope, it's for me to know and you to find out." she said smirking.

She knew that this would bug me all day and she enjoys taunting me.

"Well if you're not going to tell me, can you at least tell me where you plan to compete first; cause I know where most of the gyms are, but I don't know where any of the contests are held."

"Umm, actually about that."

Lyra stopped for a moment and said. "I don't know where any of the contests are held."

I stopped in my tracks and turned.

"What, you don't know, this whole time you didn't know?" I said irritably.

"I thought you knew where they were." she said in her defense.

"How could you not know? I thought you did some research on it last night?"

"Last night I was too busy packing and getting ready I guess I forgot to."

"Ughh, seriously you got to be kidding me."

"*sigh* Well anyway Lyra, we can get info on contests at Cherry Grove or Violet City so it's not a big deal." I said turning around and started walking again.

"Sorry I got mad, you were just excited to start your journey and you forgot to do some research."

"Apology accepted," she said smirking at me.

We kept walking and surprisingly we ran into no wild pokemon, I guess they tend to avoid more than one person. When we reached Cherry Groove it was midday and there wasn't a cloud in the sky and I could smell the aroma of cherry blossoms wafting in the breeze. We made our way to a fast food joint and we ordered some food for lunch. We sat outside to enjoy the weather and I let Merlin out of his ball to eat.

"So Gold, let's see what Merlin can do I'm curious to see." said Lyra sipping on some soda.

"I am too," I said as I pulled out my pokedex and scrolled to the Hoothoot section and showed her what I found.

"Based on this I think that the glowing eyes thing was the move known as foresight, it allows the pokemon to identify the target and better judge how to hit it, he also knows how to tackle but I bet that was obvious, I don't know what he was using to scare us though I think it was either confusion or maybe hypnosis but that's a stretch."

"Well get Merlin to do it again, I want to see it." she said.

I looked at Merlin who was perched on a lamp post nearby and was staring at something.

"Merlin, come here I need you to show us what you did the other night."

Merlin turned and tilted his head at me. He then flew off his perch and landed on the table and then he looked at Nile who was eating some French fries. Merlin's eyes glowed white causing Nile to stand up as if he heard something and was searching franticly for it. Then Merlin tilted his head again as a small spiraling light shot towards Nile and he fell over asleep. Lyra giggled at this and Merlin looked up at me for approval.

"I guess you know both hypnosis and confusion. I bet if you really meant it that confusion could really hurt." I said jokingly.

Merlin just tilted his head never blinking.

"I guess you not much for expressions." I said.

"Well he just met you Gold, give him a bit. I bet he'll open up to you soon enough." said Lyra.

I was about to respond but then someone walked up to our table. He was bit shorter than me and he wore a green fleece jacket and khaki shorts and had short brown hair.

"Hello sorry to interrupt, my name is Joey."

"Pleased to meet you Joey." said Lyra putting down her soda to look at him.

"Um hi" I said with a hint of nervousness in my voice.

Talking to kids my age isn't really a walk in the park for me, what with me being shy.

"So um, my name is Gold and this is Lyra, is there something you wanted?"

"Actually yes, I couldn't help but notice your pokemon and I figured you were a trainer right?"

"Well I guess you can say that, I um am a, kinda new to it." I said scratching the back of my neck.

"Well I'm a trainer too." he said pulling out a pokeball and tossing it up and down.

"And I was looking for some action today, so what do you say, you up for it?"

"I don't know, I mean I we have to make it to Violet city today, I'm not sure we have…"

"Oh come on Gold," said Lyra cutting me off.

"We have plenty of time to reach Violet city, besides I love watching you fight. Oh I even remember seeing a park nearby, you two should fight there." Lyra said excitedly.

"Yeah she's right come on, it will be quick." said Joey.

"Well alright if you say so, but let's make it quick." I said holding out my hand to accept his challenge.

"Alright let's do this." Joey said shaking my hand.

We went to the park nearby, it wasn't very large but it had various cherry trees in blossom scattered around the park and a single path that weaved its way around the park. We stood in the middle roughly ten meters apart and I had Merlin perched on my shoulder. Lyra sat in a nearby park bench with Marill sitting in her lap and Nile out cold lying next to her.

"You ready for this, time to show you the power of my bug pokemon, go Weedle!"

Joey threw his pokeball in the air and in a brilliant flash of light a small brown centipede like pokemon with spikes on both its head and tail was revealed.

"Alright then, go Merlin!"

Merlin flew from my shoulder and landed on the ground in front of me and tilted its head towards the Weedle.

"Weedle use poison sting, go!"

The worm pokemon snaked its way towards Merlin and tried to thrust its tail at him, Merlin quickly flew up to avoid the attack.

"Merlin, use tackle." I said

Merlin dropped from the sky on crashed down on top of the Weedle. In retaliation the worm swung its tail up at Merlin and nearly stung him before he took off again.

"Good work Merlin stay in the air and use foresight!"

Merlin's eyes glowed red and he scanned the Weedle for a weakness.

"Weedle, quickly use string shot!"

At his trainer's command the Weedle shot forth a stream of silken thread towards Merlin wrapping his wings in sticky webbing. Merlin trying desperately to stay airborne landed in a nearby cherry tree.

"Weedle after him, up the tree!"

The Weedle in quick response to his trainers command scurried towards the tree and snaked its way up after the Hoothoot.

"Merlin use confusion!"

As I issued my command Merlin's eyes glowed white but the Weedle only looked around for a few seconds before continuing his way towards Merlin and in no time at all was on the same branch he was on.

"Wait what happened, Merlin I thought you knew how to use confusion?" I said confused.

"Looks like your Hoothoot has yet to master it Gold." said Joey.

"Plus psychic moves have little effect on bugs, now Weedle use poison sting."

The Weedle fired off a barrage of jabs with its tail and riveted Merlin across his body causing him to almost fall. But Merlin held tightly to the branch with his leg and retaliated with several pecks of his beak which made the Weedle rear back from Merlin. Noticing this Merlin used Foersight and saw the weakness as well as I.

"Merlin peck away!"

"Weedle don't let up use poison sting!"

The two pokemon went at it firing off barrage after barrage of jabs and peaks exchanging blows back and forth with only a few hits from either side landing home. Merlin was slowing down though; the poison was flowing faster through his veins and draining him of strength. His pecks were slowing down and the Weedle's only got faster.

"Merlin get out of there, try to fly."

Heeding to my commands Merlin struggled to break free of the silk. Once free he took off from the branch causing the Weedle to jab at nothing, throwing it off balance. Seizing the opportunity I yelled.

"Merlin now's your chance, dive in and peak him out of the tree."

Merlin soared upward then back down at the Weedle head first at top speed. He nailed the Weedle dead center knocking it out of the tree. But Merlin was looking fatigued and started losing control as he fell to the ground along with the Weedle. They both took hard hits as they crashed into ground. For a few seconds no one could tell who won until Merlin slowly hopped up on his leg and looked over at me tilting its head. The Weedle on the other hand was out cold and Merlin stood there for as long as he could till he collapsed as well.

Lyra ran up from her bench and said, "Wow, that was close, you two were great."

"Thanks Lyra." I smiled back at her.

"Well you beat me fair and square Gold, good job." said Joey shaking my hand.

"You did well yourself, your Weedle is fast as heck man, and that poison, man I thought I was screwed there for minute, speaking of which." I reached in my bag for an antidote and rushed over to Merlin to apply it.

"There you go Merlin, you did a good job now just rest inside your pokeball."

I then returned Merlin to his ball with a bright flash of red light.

"Well it's been fun Gold but I have to get to a pokemon center and I don't want to keep you waiting so I'll see you later, Weedle return." he said returning Weedle in another flash of light.

"See ya Joey, hope we meet again," I said.

"Bye Joey, nice meeting you." said Lyra waving good bye as he left the park.

I looked up at the sky and I notice that the sun was starting to set.

"Oh crud, we need to get going Lyra, is Nile awake yet?"

"Sorry no, he's still out cold he's in my bag sleeping away, man Merlin has a nasty hypnosis." she said giggling.

"Hmmm, if only Merlin knew how to use confusion properly, I guess that explains why he couldn't hurt us with the mind tricks." she said pondering.

"I guess so, we'll have to work on that I guess, but now we have to go." I said as we left in a hurry.

We headed up the road towards Violet city and we made some good progress down the road and we even passed by Mr. Pokemon's house. But after we were about ten minutes past his house it quickly started getting dark and I saw Lyra was starting to get nervous.

"Um…Gold…what if something attacks us? I mean Nile is out cold and Marill can't fight." she said with slightly scared face.

"I don't know keep trying to wake Nile if you can, but for now just stay close and try not to draw attention. Trust me we'll be fine I won't let anything happen." I said trying to comfort her.

"Okay I'll keep trying, come on Nile wake up." She said lightly nudging Nile in her bag.

The sky grew darker and darker and so did the eeriness of the atmosphere. We could hear the sounds of nocturnal pokemon moving around in the nearby woods. After a bit of walking I noticed a slight humming in the distance. It was faint and I could barely hear it, but it was there.

"Lyra be quiet for a sec, I think I hear something." I said holding up my hand to signal her to stop.

"Oh god, what is it?" she said getting more tense and stepping closer to me.

"I don't know, it's like a low humming."

I listened closely and I could hear the humming steadily growing louder and louder. Eventually I could hear individual bird calls and it was coming closer.

"*Gasp* Oh no," said Lyra with the sound of dread in her voice.

"It sounds like a swarm of Spearow Gold, we need to go now!" She said picking up her Marill in her arms.

At the end of the road behind us a swarm of Spearow came over the horizon and were heading straight for us.

"Shit, Run!" I said grabbing Lyra's arm and taking off with her.

We ran our way down the winding the road as the droneing calls of fifty or so Spearow echoed behind us. We dared not to look back as the sound of their incessant chirping came closer and closer and we couldn't stop for anything.

We kept running and running hoping to see Violet City around the next bend, but the road kept on going, never ending. Still closer and closer the drowning sound of the Spearow came. We ran faster and faster but still closer they came.

Then as we came round the next bend Lyra failed to notice a root sprouting from the side of the road. Lyra's foot got caught and she fell forward.

"Gold!" she screamed as she fell and turned to see the Spearow closing in on her.

"Help me!" she cried.

"Lyra, hang on!" I yelled as I dug my heels into the ground as hard as I could to turn around. I kicked off and sprinted to her.

As I turned to face the Spearow I saw how massive their swarm was and they were closing in, fast. I skidded along the ground to stop myself over Lyra and grabbed her in my arms. Without a second thought I kicked off into a full sprint and ran down the road with Lyra cradled in my arms. I could see Spearow on both sides of me now, they had caught up to me and I couldn't run any faster. I felt a jab at my leg as a Spearow attacked me. I cringed at the sharp pain in my leg. Then I felt another strike my back as I kept on running as hard as I could trying to ignore the Spearow's attacks.

I had to get Lyra out of here, who knows, her ankle may be twisted or worse. Lyra was clinging tightly to me as we ran, but more and more Spearow attacked me. My legs were giving out, and Violet city was nowhere in sight.

Strike after strike hit me and eventually I tripped on a rock in the road. As I fell down I turned my body around to keep Lyra from hitting the ground and landed straight on my back. I cringed in pain. Then the Spearow began to circle us now and one tried to dive in towards Lyra. In quick response I rolled to the side to shield her from the bird of prey.

"Gold, no!" Lyra screamed as the Spearow pecked away at my back.

I pulled her close to keep her safe but the Spearow wouldn't let up; they kept pecking and pecking away at me. One after the other they pecked at me and they wouldn't stop. I felt like there was no hope of escaping. Then I heard a voice.

"Pidgeotto quickly use Gust!" said the voice of some followed by the call of an unfamiliar pokemon that echoed over the Spearow's chirping.

I looked up and saw a large bird like pokemon with a reddish crest of feathers fly in and was fighting off the Spearow. I looked to the side and I saw a man in blue robes with blue hair that was running up to me.

"You two come with me, we have to get out of here now!" he said.

I got up without a second thought still holding Lyra in my arms and ran as fast as I could towards the man in blue.

"Who are you?" I yelled.

"Not important right now, let's just get you out of here!" he said in a stern voice.

And with that I ran down the road alongside the man with his Pidgeotto fending off the Spearow. We eventually made it to Violet City and I was able to breathe a sigh of relief. The man who saved us walked up to me and said.

"I'm glad I was taking a stroll tonight, or else I think those Spearow would have done much worse. Look you two need to head to the local hotel and get some rest okay." He said breathing heavily

"Thank you so much, um, I'm sorry I don't know your name." I said breathing heavily as well.

"Falkner, my name is Falkner, I'm the gym leader here. Now then I'm sorry but I have to leave you two, the hotel is just down the road and to the left you can't miss it. Get some rest you need it."

He then waved his hand and turned around walking off.

I stood there for few moments processing what just happened, then I felt a tug on my sweatshirt and I looked down at Lyra.

"Um, Gold." she said in a very quiet voice.

"Yeah?" I said staring into her eyes.

"You think you can put me down now? Cause um, my leg isn't twisted or anything, so um, I can walk just fine." she said looking up at me.

I paused for moment and my face started blushing as I quickly let her down.

"Oh I uh, um, I'm sorry." I said franticly trying to recover from that awkward moment.

"I guess I just, well, forgot that I was holding you." I said awkwardly.

Which in reality was quite true, she felt so light in my arms I barely noticed her weight.

"It's okay Gold you don't have to apologize, and um, thank you for saving me." she said timidly.

"I thought I was a goner and then you came back to get me, thank you."

I paused for sec and then said, "No problem…that's what friends do, we help each other."

"You're right, we should probably never tell this to our parents or else I think they'll hunt use down and drag us back home." she said giggling.

"Come on I bet you need to rest at the hotel." she said grabbing my sweat shirt and pulling me down the road towards the hotel.

We checked in at the hotel and got the only room they had available at the moment, which had only one bed. When we walked in I said, "I'll sleep on the couch, you can have the bed."

"Look at you. You need the bed more than I do. Come on, I'll feel terrible if you slept on the couch." she said in retaliation.

"Look I'm fine trust me, you can have the bed, here I'll make you." I said as I picked her up by the waist and carried her to the bed.

"Hey no fair Gold, let go of me." she said as she tried to squirm free.

I then placed her on the bed and I walked over to the closet to get a blanket out.

"Gold please, you need to sleep in the bed." she said insisting.

"Lyra I'm fine, I'll sleep on the couch."

"Hmmph fine jerk." said Lyra in a pouty voice.

"Well fine then have it your way. I need to change into my pajamas so go outside or something." she said getting up as she started to undo her overalls.

I stepped outside to the balcony to give her some space. When she was done she slumped into the bed and went straight to sleep. I went to the couch and striped down to my boxers and lied down. My back hurt from all the bruises and it was almost impossible to get comfortable. My thoughts drifted as I thought about how quickly I reacted to save Lyra. I was so concerned for her safety I didn't care what happened to me. And that this Falkner character, if he didn't show up I dared not to think about what may have happen to us, to Lyra. Tomorrow we had a lot to do.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5 Faith and Trust

I was awoken by an aching pain on my back; it made me cringe as I sat up.

"Oh god, my back," I groaned quietly.

When the pain ceased I reached back to feel the welts on my back. They stung when I touched them which made me jerk my hand away. I looked around the room and saw Lyra was sound asleep in the bed, Marill was passed out in the corner, and Nile was lying on top of my bag next to the couch. I shifted off of the couch quietly and made my way to the bathroom to look at my back in the mirror. I pulled off my under shirt and turned to the side and saw at least ten or fifteen bruises scattered across my back and some on my legs. If Lyra were to see this, she would feel terrible. I put my undershirt back on and went back out into the room to grab my clothes and got dressed. I noticed Nile was awoken by the commotion as he walked up to me motioning that he was hungry while rubbing his eyes.

"Alright, alright, gimme a sec and we'll get you some food." I said in a low voice hoping not to wake Lyra.

I grabbed my bag and I left the room with Nile careful to shut the door quietly. I went to the lobby and looked for a local map in one of those brochure stands you find in hotels. I grabbed a map out from the rows upon rows of flyers and found out where the local pokemon center was so I could get Merlin healed up.

With the sun out it was easier to see the city's full colors as I stepped outside the hotel. The city's streets were made of smooth stone tiles and many of the street lights were oriental gas lanterns. To the north I could see a tall pagoda looking building. Many of the other buildings in the town were also ornamental in design to complement the tower, and they were topped off with purple roofing, hence the name Violet City. Once I reached the center I dropped Merlin's pokeball off, and while I waited for the nurses to do their magic I decided to find some breakfast for Lyra and I.

Before I left the center in search of food, I overheard a conversation between two trainers. They were talking about some sort of "Sprout Tower" and its challenging trials for trainers and their pokemon. I guessed they were talking about the tall tower I saw earlier; perhaps I'll go there today to see what this Sprout Tower is like. After seeing what this Falkner guy could do the other night I would need to be much stronger before I challenge him for his badge. And this Sprout Tower sounded like the perfect place to train.

I found a local super market and picked up two bowls of readu made ramen noodles made with shrimp and crab meat mixed in; Lyra's favorite. After I paid for the noodles I went back to the pokemon center to pick up Merlin. I thanked the nurses for their hard work, but before I left I asked them if there were any pokemon contests being held nearby, remembering that Lyra needed to know where they were.

"Yes we do actually, the next one will be held two days from now. If you're interested just fill out these forms, and bring them back here." said the nurse as she handed me a pamphlet

I looked over the pamphlet briefly. It went on about what contests were available and how to enter them. I had no idea what all of it meant but I was sure Lyra could make sense of it.

"Thanks for your help." I said thanking the nurse as I left the center and went back to the hotel.

After taking the elevator up and reaching our room I found Lyra sitting on the couch channel surfing with Marill curled up next to her. She turned her head noticing I was back, and with a smile she said.

"Gold your back, did you bring breakfast?" she then sniffed the air.

"No way, is that ramen?" she excitedly.

"It's your favorite, shrimp and crab meat." I said as I handed her a bowl and chopsticks.

We sat at the table and I showed her the forms I got her as we talked about what today's plan was.

"So this sprout tower, what do you think their trials are like?" she said slurping up some noodles.

"I'm not sure what they are, that's why I want to go there to find out."

"*Slurp* Well I'm going to have to stay behind for that unfortunately, I need to work on a good routine with Marill if I'm going to compete in that contest in two days, isn't that right?" she motioned to Marill who was munching on an apple and nodded.

"Well I'm finished, so I'm going to get going I'll be back as soon as I'm done." I said as I got up, but I felt a sharp pain in my back and I arched my back as I cringed.

"Gold, are you okay?" she said alarmingly.

"I'm fine Lyra, don't worry." I said rubbing my back.

"Are you sure? Maybe I should just take a look." she said as she motioned towards me.

"Trust me I'm fine," I said trying to get her to stop. If she saw my back now she would flip out on me so I lied.

"It's nothing to worry about it was just something caught in my shirt that jabbed me."

"Um, okay if you say so," she said not sure if I was telling the truth as she leaned back into her chair.

"Just make sure you don't try anything crazy while you're out there, okay?"

"Don't worry I'll be fine." I said as I headed for the door and motioned for Nile to follow.

I could see as I left that Lyra still looked concerned about me. I smiled back her trying to get her to relax as I shut the door.

Once out of the hotel I made my way across town admiring the scenery and architecture. On my way northward towards the tower I came across a lake at the end of the town with an island in the middle. There was an ornamental bridge that spanned the lake to the island and continued to the other end of the lake where it led to the pagoda that was Sprout Tower. I stood there for moment taking in the beauty of nature and architecture in perfect harmony as a breeze carried several flower petals aloft across the lake. I walked across the bridge in awe at the beauty of what lay before me. I approached the entrance which appeared to be guarded by two large Bellsprout statues. I noticed a man in monk attire sitting in a meditation pose near the entrance.

"Welcomed to Sprout Tower traveler, where pokemon and trainers alike learn to work together in harmony and grow closer to one another. Are you here to attempt the trials?" the monk said with a welcoming voice.

"Yes I am, but what are the trials?" I asked

"There are three trials you must complete here, one of Trust, and one of Faith. Complete these two and the final trial will await you at the top of the tower."

"Faith and trust?" I said confused.

"Aren't those two things the same? Cause if I have faith in something doesn't that mean I trust it too?"

"True, these virtues do coincide with each other, but one deals with what is tangible, the other in the invisible. But you will learn that in due time. So do you wish to enter?"

I stood there trying to analyze what I was just told. I wasn't sure about the whole invisible and tangible thing but I said. "I'm ready for anything you can throw at me," with confidence.

"I like your attitude, I can see you're willing to face these trials with great determination and I like that. You may enter and face the trail of Trust." he motioned towards the door.

"Thank you." I said as I walked into the building.

The interior was wide and open and was set up much like a dojo with tons of candles that ran along the edges of the room creating a dim orange glow across the chamber. At the other end of the room was another man in robes standing at the ready.

"Welcome to the Trial of Trust, please present your pokemon so I my see who is need of trust."

I motioned to Nile to go forward and I tossed Merlin's pokeball releasing the owl pokemon to stand next to Nile. Nile was eager to fight and was showing off like a muscle builder, while Merlin on the other hand was asleep standing on one leg. I called to Merlin to wake him up and he lazily opened his eyes and yawned. The monk walked up to look closely at them both with his hand on his chin.

"Your Totodile is the one best fitting for this test, call back your Hoothoot and we will begin." said the monk as he turned back to his side of the room

"Um okay, Merlin come over here, and you can keep napping." I said as Merlin flew over and landed next to me where he promptly dozed back to sleep.

"Go Bellsprout," said the monk as he let loose a pokeball that unleashed a scrawny flower like pokemon with roots for a body.

"This is the Trial of Trust, in order to pass this trial all you have to do is land a single blow on my pokemon. But you may not use ranged attacks. In order to make it easier Bellsprout here will not move. Bellsprout use ingrain." He said waving his arm to issue his command.

The Bellsprout assumed a stance like that of a martial artist, then it inhaled deeply as its roots began to fuse to the wooden floor boards.

"What that's it?" I said smirking.

"Yep just one hit on my Bellsprout nothing else. It's as straight forward as it could possibly be." He said smiling while crossing his arms together.

"In that case, Nile go and use scratch!" I said as I pointed towards the Bellsprout.

Nile darted towards the Bellsprout with his intense speed.

"Use Vine whip!" said the monk.

The Bellsprout then let loose a vine with incredible speed that swept horizontally across the room that smacked Nile across the face sending him straight to the ground. The vine then shot back to the Bellsprout like a tape measure being rolled back up. Nile dazed by the sudden impact of the vine dizzily got back up trying to shake it off. Before he was steady another vine shot forth in straight line that socked Nile in the gut and threw him back off his feet.

"Nile! You okay?" I yelled as I watched Nile fall back.

"Get back up and let's try again. His attacks may be fast but now you know what he can do!"

Nile shot up to his feet and was back into the fray, this time dashing back and forth in order to avoid the vines. The Bellsprout lashed out a barrage of vines towards Nile which he dodged narrowly shifting side to side.

"Yeah Nile keep going."

"Stop him Bellsprout." said the Monk

The Bellsprout shot forth more vines towards his foe; Nile dodged them and was closing in. But as Nile drew closer I noticed what the Bellsprout was doing. There were vines on both sides of Nile funneling him into a narrow passage with no room to dodge. He had been trapped.

"Nile stop he's about to," but before I could finish the Bellsprout whipped a vine horizontally across the top of the vines that trapped Nile and nailed him in the face while a second one swept across the underside of the vines from the opposite direction that took out Nile's legs causing him to topple over himself. As the vines violently retracted back into the Bellsprout, it then bundled them into a single vine and lashed it at Nile and once again sent him flying back.

"Nile are you okay? Can you get up?" I said frantically knowing those vines were taking their toll on Nile because of his water type.

Damn, what do I do? Nile may be fast but there's no way he can get past that vine defense grid.

"Nile hang on for a little longer, I need to think of something. Just stay out of his reach for now."

Nile getting up nodded his head and stayed far from the flower pokemon who continued his vine whip onslaught.

"You better hurry, your water type won't be able to take another one of my Bellsprout's vine whips before he falls." said the monk with a smirk on his face.

"Arrgh, oh come on think." I said in frustration.

There had to be a way to get past those vines, but how? Dodging them doesn't help, all that does is form walls causing Nile to be unable to escape, and charging in head strong will end with Nile getting socked across the face. If only the vines weren't so fast.

"Wait a sec? That's it!" I said.

Every time a vine was fired off it would never change direction and it would only follow the path it was originally sent on. And it always returned back to the user like an outstretched rubber band being snapped back. Meaning the Bellsprout couldn't control the vines once they were lashed out and they had to return back to the Bellsprout. Which means those vines can be used as Nile's one way ticket to the center!

"Nile bite the vine!" I yelled.

Nile looked back at me like I was crazy as he tried to avoid and incoming barrage of vines.

"Nile there's no time to explain just do it!"

Nile then rolled his eyes at me and continued to dodge the vines as best he could.

"Nile I know it doesn't make sense but you have to! It's the only way, you have to trust me like you did before. I promise this will work! Just do it!"

Nile looked back at me for a moment. After a few seconds he nodded his head and turned to face the Bellsprout who returned his gaze with a volley of vines. One was heading straight for Nile's face but he stood there not budging as it closed in with intense speed. Then at the last second Nile side stepped and clapped his jaws on the vine.

"Now Nile don't let go, once you get close you use scratch!" I yelled pointing my hand at the Bellsprout.

The vines began to retract and like a fish being reeled in Nile went flying towards the Bellsprout. Nile quickly put the pieces together and saw what he had to do. He locked his eyes on the target and reared his arm back ready to deliver the final blow. As he closed in the Bellsprout panicked realizing that it couldn't stop the incoming blue reptile. At the final moment Nile threw his fist towards the Bellsprout with a mighty roar.

Impact!

Nile drove his fist full force into the Bellsprout's face with enough strength to uproot the pokemon from the wooden floor it was fused to. Nile and the Bellsprout toppled over each other and rolled across the room. When they stopped Nile got back up and threw his hands into the air and roared in victory before he fell back to the ground in an exhausted heap.

"Yeah, Nile you did it!" I yelled triumphantly.

I ran up to Nile to congratulate him and give him some medicine for my bag.

"Thanks for trusting me Nile, you did a good job." I said as I held him in my arms and Nile gave me a smirk before I returned him to his pokeball.

"You did an excellent job, not many have ever find the weakness in my Bellspout's vine whip. You were able to find the solution to the problem at hand, and you proved that your pokemon trusts in your judgment as the trainer. You have passed the Trail of Trust." the monk said as he walked back and pulled down a ladder to next floor.

"Proceed to the next floor, your Hoothoot will participate in the Trial of Faith." he said as he motioned for me to proceed.

I climbed my way up to the next floor with Merlin perched on my shoulder. As I poked my head into the next floor I could see that it mirrored the floor below with the candles and everything around the corners. At the other end of the room stood another monk in blue robes who was standing at attention waiting for me.

"Welcome to the second floor, this is the Trial of Faith. I hope your faith in your pokemon is strong, for this time your opponent will be different from your average Bellsprout" he said as he pulled out a pokeball and threw it into the air. In a bright flash it released a cloud of purple mist that formed a creepy face and eyeballs.

Merlin's composure changed drastically in the presence of the ghost pokemon. He was wide awake and staring intensely at the Ghastly. The look in his eye was that of hate, like that of a mighty knight scolding the very sight of evil.

"Merlin what's with you?" I said concerned for my feathered friend.

But Merlin didn't respond to me, he just kept staring at the ghost with an intense grimace.

"It would seem your Hoothoot has an affinity for ghosts." said the monk.

"That will certainly make this fight more interesting. Now then this trial's rules are similar to your last one, all you have to do is hit my Ghastly with whatever method you wish to use. But this time he won't stand idly by for you to come close. So let's not waste time and begin." he said waving his hand to issue the challenge.

Merlin took off from my shoulder without hesitation and soared towards the Ghastly to attack. The Ghastly simply ducked under the attack and turned to mock the owl pokemon. Merlin turned in midair and tried again to hit the ghost but it was too fast and it dodged the attack again.

"Merlin calm down, we can't go charging in wildly!" I said trying to get Merlin to cease his frantic attacks.

But Merlin didn't listen and chased the purple cloud back and forth across the room to no avail. Then the Ghastly stopped near a support beam near the rafters in the ceiling. It turned and stuck its tongue out at Merlin mocking him. Merlin darted across the open space to hit the Ghastly. But at the last second the Ghastly shifted up and made Merlin crash into the rafter. Merlin fell to the ground below crashing hard into the wooden floor. The Ghastly hovered over him and laughed with a wicked cackle.

"Oh no! Merlin are you okay?" I yelled.

But Merlin shrugged it off and looked back up at the cackling cloud of mist. He had just about had it with the mocking and kicked off from the floor into the air to retaliate.

"Merlin wait, listen to me!"

Merlin refusing to listen shot up from the floor and went soaring toward the hovering cloud of gas. The Ghastly stopped its mad cackle as it realized the Hoothoot was inbound. Merlin spiraled upward to unleash a midair spinning tackle. But when Merlin made contact he passed right through the ghostly pokemon as if it wasn't even there, causing its purple haze to disperse. Merlin turned in midair to look at the cloud of purple gas with anger on his eyes as the purple cloud reformed in front of him and began to cackle once again

"Wait what just happened? Why didn't that work?" I said confused at what I just witnessed.

"Now you see the true nature of ghost pokemon." said the monk.

"What do you mean?" I said looking at the monk.

"Unlike most pokemon a Ghost type pokemon can't be harmed by normal means, you can tackle my Ghastly all you like but you'll never be able to hurt him."

"It can't be harmed by normal means? But then how am I?"

Then it hit me, Merlin wasn't just any normal bird.

"That's it! Merlin you have to use Confusion!"

Merlin looked back for the first time acknowledging me. His composure seemed to relax a bit as if he began to understand that this blind rage of his was pointless. Merlin then nodded his head and closed his eyes trying to concentrate. When he opened his eyes they glowed bright white and he starred straight at the one that mocked his feeble attempts. But the ghastly still lingered there unfazed. Merlin's eyes ceased to glow and he tried to use confusion again, but nothing happened once more. The Ghastly began to cackle once again. Merlin's eyes dimed as his composure grew more furious. Over and over again Merlin tried to unleash his physic potential but continued to fail each time with the Ghastly's mocking laughter only grew louder.

"Unfortunately it would seem your Hoothoot is unable to perform such a high level attack; you must realize you're asking too much of your pokemon?" said the monk in a dissatisfied tone.

"Besides this has dragged on for too long now. Ghastly use hypnosis and lets wrapped this up."

The Ghastly nodded towards the monk and its eyes glowed bright as a wave of spiraling distorted light was launched towards Merlin.

"Merlin quickly dodge it!" I ordered.

But Merlin never budged and the convulsing wave of light just pattered off him as he stood there unfazed staring back at the ghost with determination. The Ghastly looked confused and sent another wave of spiraling light towards his opponent but it just dissipated off of Merlin. No matter how hard the Ghastly tried Merlin refused to be put to sleep like some sort of insomniac. I stood there in awe as each wave of light continued to seemingly do nothing to Merlin.

"Merlin I don't know how you're doing this, but now's our chance. Use hypnosis and show him what you can do it, I believe in you." I said.

Merlin's eyes glowed once more and then he sent out his own waves of distorted light towards the Ghastly. They collided with those of his attacker and created cascading waves of distorted light as both pokemon struggled to keep their focus on the attack. The distorted lights danced back and forth as both pokemon fought for dominion over the other's mind.

"Merlin don't give in! Show that ghost what you're made of." I said trying to keep Merlin focused.

But the distorted light was edging closer and closer to Merlin; the Ghastly was winning this game of the mind. Merlin was beginning to look fatigued and was struggling to stand on the beam on which he stood. He wasn't going to last much longer and the Ghastly knew it as it grinned. I had to do something or else Merlin was going to lose this battle of the minds.

"Merlin I don't know why you were so intent on fighting this Ghastly, and whatever that reason is you're about to fail at what you set out to achieve. Are you going to let that happen? Or are you going to show this ghastly who the real terror of the night is!" I said desperately trying to get Merlin to stay up.

Merlin looked back at me with his tired eyes. He looked at me for moment, then he nodded as he turned back to face the ghastly. He shook his head as he got back on his feet and caused the convulsing lights to distort more strongly on his end, the center of the distorted light began to crawl back towards the Ghastly. The smirk on the Ghastly's face was wiped away as it began to struggle to maintain its control as the distorted light came closer and closer to the ghost. But before it reached him the spiraling light stopped dead in its tracks just in front of the ghostly cloud. Merlin wouldn't stand for this and he unfurled his wings as his eyes glowed even brighter and sent forth the final push as the spiraling light crashed into the hazy cloud.

The Ghastly having lost the struggle began to sway back and forth trying to stay in the air but then plummeted towards the floor.

"Merlin you did it, I knew you could!"

Merlin stood there on the support beam breathing heavily from the ordeal. He then looked at me and tilted his head as show of victory. He flew back to me and perched himself on my shoulder.

"Incredible, simply incredible, I haven't seen anything like that in quick awhile. Your Hoothoot is very strong, and thanks to your faith in him he was able to complete this trial. Your nothing like the young lad who came before you today, he simply used aggression to overcome these trials." said the Monk applauding my victory.

"Wait someone else was here today? Who?" I said confused thinking I was the only one besides the monks here.

"Yes a young lad like you, we get a lot of visits from young trainers so don't think it's that uncommon. He is currently up stairs right now facing our master in the final trail. I personally don't approve of his training methods, but he completed the trials so I couldn't deny him passage. I think our master should be wrapping up you should head up there." He said as he motioned towards a ladder near him.

"It's a long way up so be careful and good luck."

I returned Merlin to his ball and I walked up to the ladder and started to ascend the rungs. The ladder kept on going for at least 3 stories and as I drew closer I could hear a commotion coming from the top as well as an occasional bright flash that shown threw the floor boards of the top floor. Whatever was happening up there must've been intense. I wondered who the other trainer could be, he sounded tough. As I came up to the top I stepped up into a small room that was cut off from the rest of the floor. There was door in front of me and as I reached to open it I heard a voice on the other side.

"Alright old man I beat each and every one of your silly trials so where is my reward, come on I haven't got all day."

That voice. It couldn't be. It can't be. No it was him, there was no doubt, it was Silver. My heart sank as I remembered my last encounter with him. Damn it, why here, why now? I opened the door slowly and looked in. I saw him standing there with a Cyndaquil in front of him and an old monk in decorated robes across from him.

"I admit it, your defiantly strong, and by the rules of this tower I must reward you. But the way you treat your pokemon is inexcusable." said the old man as he reluctantly held out bag of money.

"Give me that," said Silver as he snatched the bag from the man.

"And what the hell do you know old man, all I care about is strong pokemon and those who can win. I have no time for your stupid caring and shit." he said with a grimace on his face.

Silver then turned around, his hair was draped over one eye and he caught a glance of me behind the door. I quickly stepped backwards from the door, but I clumsily stumbled and fell. He looked at me with indifference putting his hands in his pockets.

"It's _you_ again. You're that punk that got in my way at Cherry Grove, why the hell are you here?" He said as he made his way towards the door and stared down at me with his hate filled silver eye.

"Pfft, don't worry, I'm not interested in weak bastards like you. So why don't you stay there on the ground where you belong and get the hell out my way."

He walked past me and made his way down the ladder.

I felt so pathetic knowing that just the guy looking at me was enough for me to cower like a fool. I tried to gather my shattered pride and got back up as I tried to forget what just happened and focus on whatever challenge was ahead. I walked into the final room and noticed that unlike a dojo it was built more like a room of peace and mediation. Rather than candles the room was open with large windows all around. There was a bridge from the room I was in that lead to a central raised wooden platform roughly twenty yards wide and twenty long. Surrounding the platform were Zen gardens on either side of the platform with bonsai trees and small ponds with koi fish in them. The room was beautiful and I could hardly believe a fight had taken place here. At the end of the platform stood two Bellsprout statues and the old man standing in between them. He looked up at me and said, "Do you know him?" clearly seeing what had just happened.

"I wish I didn't, but yes. It's a long story." I said regretfully.

"Spare me the details, if you wish not to know him then you're better off." he said holding up his hand to signify that he wished to not hear.

"He treats his pokemon without love and he is arrogant in his beliefs. But you're not here to hear me lecture, I figure that you wish to face me for your final challenge?" he said raising his eyebrow.

"Um yes I'm ready for any fancy test you got. All I need to do is hit your pokemon once just like before." I said getting myself pumped with my hand on Nile's ball.

"Oh this isn't any fancy trial like before. This is a fight like any other. Now present your pokemon and show me what made you worthy of coming this far." He said as he let loose a pokeball that revealed a Bellsprout.

"Oh is that so, well then perfect this is my kind of fight, go Nile!" I said as I tossed his pokeball.

Nile having rested from his last fight was ready for action and growled in anticipation as he set his eyes on his opponent.

"Let us begin, Bellsprout use Vine whip." said the old man as the flower pokemon lashed a vine towards Nile.

"Nile you know what to do."

Nile nodded and dodged the vine and bit hard into it. As the vine retracted the old man said.

"Nice try but that won't work this time, Bellsprout use vine whip again."

Using its other arm the sprout pokemon lashed out a vine that slashed at Nile knocking him off the vine he was latched onto. He hit the wooden floor hard and tumbled.

"Nile!" I cried out.

But he was back on his feet in no time and ready to keep going. In response the sprout lashed out more vines.

"Nile use you water gun and repel his vines!"

As the vines homed in, Nile shot out blasts of pressured water that kept the vines at bay. When the vines retracted he zoomed in to close the distance between him and the Bellsprout. Once up close to his opponent Nile unleashed a flurry of scratches with his reptilian claws. But the Bellsprout bobbed and weaved around his attacks like a trained martial artist. Once it found an opening it slashed its vine across Nile's face. Nile shook it off and continued his onslaught of scratches trying to hit the bellsprout. The Sprout rolled backwards and used a vine whip. Nile dodged it by side stepping and then rushed forward to continue his barrage of clawed attacks. The bell sprout dodged his attacks and in one motion sweeping motion ducked under Niles frenzied attacks and whipped a vine at Niles face, but it was stopped. The Sprout then realized the vine was caught in Nile's jaws.

"Good job, now swing him around and launch him Nile!" I ordered as Nile swung his powerful body around and launched the Bellsprout toward the zen garden below. The Bellsprout crashed in a flurry of stones as it skidded along one of the gravel paths.

"Now Nile while he's down finish him with a bite**.**!" I said as Nile ran to the edge of the wooden platform.

"Bellsprout use Vine whip don't let him get close!" issued the old man.

As Nile jumped from the wooden platform to pounce on the Bellsprout, the flower pokemon got up and let loose a vine. It intercepted Nile in midair and threw him off course and he too crashed into the gravel path below, but was quickly on his feet again. Nile was barely standing, those vine whips have taken their toll on him and he had to finish this quickly.

"Nile use water gun aim for the face!" I said and Nile fired his jet of water towards the sprout.

The sprout reared back as the water rushed past its face.

"Boy don't you know that water moves won't hurt my Bellsprout?" said the old man with a smirk on his face.

"No, but it sure as heck kept him from being able to see." I said as returned a smirk back at the old man as he realized what I had done.

"Now Nile use bite while it's dazed and finish this!"

Nile rushed forward with jaws ready to go as the Bellsprout began to look back up. But it was too late Nile had reached him. And before it could react Nile had clamped his powerful jaws down on the sprout. Nile shook his head back and forth violently and launched the sprout into one post's that held up the wooden platform. The Bellsprout was out cold and couldn't fight any more. Nile looked upward and growled in triumph.

"Yeah we did it! Good job Nile!" I said as I jumped down to the garden to congratulate him.

"I have to say you are an impressive young trainer, your Totodile truly has faith in you and your bond is unbreakable." said the old man as he walked to the edge of the wooden platform.

"Here is your reward for defeating our towers three trials, you've earned it." he said holding out a bag of money and I walked over to claim it.

"So do you plan on taking on our city's gym as well?" he said as I took my prize.

"Yes I do, but I'm not sure if I'm ready for that yet." I said thinking about last night.

"Nonsense, I know Falkner very well and you are more than ready to fight him, now go get some rest and always remember what you learned here, Faith and Trust is what will guide you on your journey." he said as he bowed to send me on my way.

I bowed back and headed for the ladder. Once I was out of the tower it was high noon and I called Lyra on my phone.

"Hey Goldy, you done with your tower thing yet? Cause me and Maril have finally got our routine down." she said with pride.

"Yeah I'm done, it was tough though. So what contest do you plan on entering, cause I think there were several categories you could enter?" I asked.

"We plan on entering the cuteness competition and I just know Marill is going to win, I can feel it. Not only that but I caught a new pokemon while I was out! And she's the cutest thing ever!" she said happy as ever.

"Really what is it?" I said excited for her.

"Oh I'm not telling you, you'll just have to come and see at the hotel. It's a surprise." she said as she giggled.

Oh god here we go, Lyra and her secrets. She always has to have a surprise for me.

"Fine I'll come and see it, you and your secrets. Anyway, I'll pick up some dinner, want anything?"

"Um, get me a burger and some fries with a root beer please. Great, I'll see you at the hotel, bye." She said as she hung up.

Putting my phone away I made my way across the bridge towards the town. I turned to see the tower one more time before I disappeared into town. Tomorrow I face Falkner and earn my first badge. But if I'm going to do that I need to know more about flying types before I charge in head strong. So after I got some dinner from a local fast food joint I pulled out my pokedex and looked up flying type pokemon. As I scrolled through the text I looked for the weakness's section and found the and read.

"Flying type pokemon, although immune to the effects of Ground based moves, are susceptible to the elements of weather. From the thunder that rains down from electrical storms, to the sheer cold of blizzards, to the loose rocks that are kicked up by mighty winds. Flying type pokemon require good flying conditions to be the most effective and can be brought down easily if any of these elements are used against them."

"Electricity, Rock, and Ice, great I've got none of those. Uuggh, where am I going to find any of those on such short notice? *sigh* whatever I'll just have to fight Falkner without that advantage" I said gloomily.

I made my way back to the hotel and took the elevator up. When I found our room I reached for the door knob to the room but I was zapped by a static shock and I quickly pulled my hand away.

"Ow, jeez I hate when that happens." I said shaking the stinging sensation out of my hand.

I then opened the door and as i walked in I could hear that Lyra was giggling along with what sounded like little _Meeps _over in the other other room. I could only guess they were coming from this new pokemon she caught.

"Lyra I'm back, and I brought food." I said as I set the bag of food on the table.

"Goldy, you're back." said Lyra as she poked her head out of the door way to the kitchen.

"Wait there, I have to show you my new pokemon, gimme a sec." she said excitedly.

"Okay." I replied as I grabbed the chair to the table, but was shocked again by some static.

I pulled my hand away again wondering why this would happen twice in a row. Before I could ponder further on the mysterious static shocks Lyra came into the room with what looked like a small sheep cradled in her arms. Oddly enough when she entered the room the hair on my skin started to stand up.

"Here she is, it's a Mareep. Isn't it so cute." She squealed.

"Awwe, did you give her name?" I asked.

"Her name is Teeka, and she's so soft. Isn't that right Teeka?" she said in her puppy talk voice holding the little sheep up to her face.

The Mareep _meeped_ happily as it cuddled with her.

"I was hoping you could use your pokedex to tell me more about her." She said as she put Teeka on the ground and sat at the table.

"Oh sure thing, let's see what it can tell us." I said as I flipped out the pokedex to get a scan of the Mareep.

"Mareep, the Wool pokemon, its fluffy coat of wool rubs together and builds a static charge. The more static electricity is charged, the more brightly the light bulb at the tip of its tail glows." Stated the pokedex in its automated voice.

"Electricity?" I said contemplating what that meant, then it hit me.

"Wait a minute, Lyra I think you just found me a trump card! Falkner use's flying types and they're weak to electricity!" I said thrilled.

"Lyra, if you'll let me, I can use Teeka to get the upper hand in tomorrow's fight." I said turning to Lyra to see what she would say.

"Really? Hhhmmm, I don't know." she said with a concerned look on her face.

"Lyra, come on, I'm serious about this, I'm going to need any advantage I can get." I pleaded.

"Oh calm down, I'm just teasing you, of course you can. If Teeka here can help you win, than I'm all for it." She said giggling.

"You're so funny when you're gullible." she said giving me her sly look.

I couldn't help but show an embarrassed face, I couldn't believe how easily she could mess with me. I almost thought she was serious at first about not letting me use Teeka.

"Well, um, if there are no issues, um, I guess we should eat our dinner before it gets cold." I said trying to shift the subject as I grabbed some of the food I bought.

"Yeah let's eat!" she said grabbing the burger I got her.


	6. Chapter 6

**Finally I got to update my story. I have to thank the aid of fellow Betas who have helped me refine my story. I haven't had this much writing a story in a very long time and hope that people are enjoying it.**

**For those few followers who are returning to read my new chapter I suggest that you reread the end of Chapter 5 to get caught up on an extra thing I added so that things don't pop out at you in this chapter.**

**Also feel free to reread the previous chapters that have been reworked.**

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Chapter 6: Soar High and Be Well Coordinated

It was early in the morning and the sun had just broken the horizon as Lyra and I stood outside the pokemon gym of Violet City. Unlike the rest of the buildings in the city the one that loomed over us lacked the ornamental look. Instead it took on a more slick modern design with large glass windows. It was almost as tall as Sprout tower, but despite its height it had only two floors. Both of which appeared to be aviaries filled with grass and trees that were meant to house flying pokemon.

"Wow this place is huge!" exclaimed Lyra as she held her Marill in her arms looking up at the tall building.

"Come on Gold let's go inside." she said turning to me.

I yawned as I stretched my arms.

"Jeez, did we have to get up so early? I haven't even had breakfast yet. *yawn* Oh, hang on a sec, Merlin's asleep again." I said looking at the drowsy Hoothoot who was perched on my shoulder.

"Hey. Hey Merlin, Merlin wake up we're heading in." I said snapping my figures to wake him.

Merlin opened his eyes and yawned as he ruffled his feathers. He tilted his head and gave me lazy look to show his distaste in being woken up.

"Hey, don't give me that look Merlin. _I mean it's not my fault we're up this early_." I said as I gave Lyra a sly look.

"Hey, I said I was sorry okay! I didn't know I needed to get a dress in order perform in the contest." She said in a pouty tone.

"I thought that was sort of a given?" I said half yawning.

"Look don't worry, that's why we came here early so that we can avoid waiting for any other trainers who may want to challenge Falkner and have enough time to go shopping. Plus you have my secret weapon Teeka, Falkner won't know what hit him."

"Yeah you're right**;** with Teeka on my team I should be able to beat Falkner in no time." I said holding up my fist.

"Glad to hear a little sheep can make you feel cocky." Lyra said as she giggled.

"I am not cocky." I retorted

"Whatever you say Goldy boy." she said with a devilish smile pulling out the town map.

"Anyway once we're done here we will go into town and find a clothing store so we can get a dress for me, it will be quick and easy." She said looking at a map.

"I still don't get why you need me to help you pick out a dress,*yawn*"

"I don't know what looks good on me, and I need a second opinion. I never liked dresses that much." she said shrugging.

"Besides, you'll get to see me in all sorts of pretty dresses. I think you'll have fun." she said cheerfully.

I paused for sec when she said that. I couldn't help but blush when thoughts of Lyra in different dresses raced around inside my head.

Lyra turned when she notice I stopped walking and said "Gold you okay? You look like you got something on your mind."

"Oh, uh, it's nothing; I just remembered something funny I heard the other day. But, uh, you wouldn't get it." I said as a terrible excuse.

She paused for sec and then she gave me a devilish smile.

"Oh I see." she said in a sly voice as she giggled to herself.

"Um, see what?" I said nervously.

"*giggle* oh it's nothing**;** come on stop stalling and let's go."

"Yeah sure, right behind you**.**" I said as I heard Merlin chuckling to himself.

He clearly was reading my mind and laughing about my fantasies of Lyra. I turned my head to look at the owl pokemon and glared.

"Oh, be quiet you." I said under my breath as I followed Lyra inside.

We entered the gym and saw the interior was like large scale terrarium with trees, grass, and everything you could find in a forest. It was almost as if someone had taken a portion of the nearby woods and put it indoors.

"Wow, look at all the pokemon Gold." Lyra said as she spun around taking in the scenery.

There were all sorts of pokemon flying around from Pidgeys to Spearow, and even some Wingulls.

"Jeez, do all gym leaders have places like this?" I said.

"Most do, personally I'm not a big fan of Chuck's messy old dojo, but I hear Whitney's gym is gorgeous." said a familiar voice that came from a nearby tree.

When we turned to find the source we saw a man with blue hair dressed in blue robes drop down from the nearby tree. He stood up from where he landed and brushed himself off.

"It's nice to see you two again; glad to see you learned not to travel at night. Your name was Gold, I think?" said Falkner as he folded his arms.

"Actually it's Ethan, but I prefer Gold." I said.

"Yeah he's kinda egotistical like that." Lyra said jokingly.

"Hey, you're the one who gave me that nick name Lyra."

"*giggle* I know, but I'll always think of it as your silly eye color and not your massive ego." She giggled as she smiled at me.

It was always her and that smile; no matter how hard I tried I couldn't help but laugh too. I then looked over towards Falkner who was standing patiently waiting for our chatter to cease.

"Anyway." I said as I took on a sterner pose.

"Falkner, I'm here to challenge you for your badge, and I'm not leaving till I've won." I said confidently.

"I figured, Master Li told me all about you. You're one of the few trainers that pass all the trials of Sprout tower. Seeing as you came here so early, I take it that you're in a bit of a hurry so why don't we skip the usual introductions and get started. What do you say?" Falkner said as he gestured towards me.

"That's fine with me." I said.

"Good." he turned and moved out towards an open patch of grass.

He then turned to me and said. "I take it this is your first gym battle, so I'll brief you on the league rules this won't take long. Trainers are only aloud to have six pokemon in their party. In single battles you may only use one pokemon at a time, you may swap your pokemon out at any time if you desire, but you must replace whoever you swap with another pokemon. Once one side runs out of pokemon capable of fighting the victor is then declared. But understand this, I am a gym leader and I will fight at my full capacity. So are you ready to face me, Gold?"

His tone became very serious when he said that last phrase.

I paused for a moment as I remembered the other night the Spearow attacked us. Falkner was right; he wasn't like anything I had faced before. This man was capable of driving off a swarm of Spearow with a single pokemon. My back still stung because of what took place that night. If I said yes to this challenge, I would be facing him unrestrained.

My thoughts were racing and I could feel doubt creeping in. All I could think of was the helplessness I felt when the Spearow attacked. A gym leader was serious business. Merlin, Nile, and Teeka could be seriously hurt if I screwed up. Falkner's face grew sterner as he waited for my response. It was obvious that my face was betraying my feelings of doubt.

"Is there something wrong? You came here to fight me, did you not? Don't tell me you doubt yourself now?" he said cocking his eyebrow and crossing his arms anticipating my response.

I felt like I was in over my head, even with Lyra's Mareep I wasn't sure it would be enough to win this. I couldn't fight him, not now, but before I could mouth the words to give up, Lyra interjected.

"What are going on about? Gold can take you on any day, just watch him!" she said stepping forward with a fire in her eyes.

"Come on Gold, prove me right! I know you can win!" she said turning to me with a smirk.

I paused for a sec, I then came to my senses.

"Yeah, your right, I came all this way to win and I'm not going to back down now, thank you Lyra." I said as I stepped forward turning my hat.

"Falkner I challenge you for your badge! Merlin you're up, now let's go!... Merlin?... Oh god, don't tell me." I said looking towards my shoulder.

"ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ"

"Merlin!"

Lyra burst into laughter as she fell to the ground rolling in hysteria. Merlin then lazily opened his eyes and looked at me like he was clueless as to what the fuss was about.

"*sigh* we're seriously going to have a talk about this when this over Merlin." I said with distaste.

"I'm sorry I laughed, I couldn't help myself." said Lyra as she stood back up from laughing.

"Well, now that you and friend have calmed down I think it's time that we started." said Falkner as he brought up his hand to his lips and whistled.

"Pidgey, you're up first!"

From one of the trees that stood behind Falkner a Pidgey flew over to him and took its place in the battle field. Merlin realizing that it was time to fight took off from my shoulder and landed in front of me and tilted his head towards the opponent.

"Begin!" Falkner declared as he motioned his hand to signal the fight.

The Pidgey shot up into the air without hesitation, while Merlin stayed where he was in order to gauge what his opponent would do. This Pidgey was fast, faster than any Pidgey I've seen in the wild, but was that to be assumed when fighting a gym leader's pokemon and I expected nothing less. From what I could tell this Pidgey had speed, and the attack power to back it up. But if my hunch was right it wasn't very durable. Merlin is not a dog fighter but he is hardy and he can take a hit. If I wanted to beat this Pidgey I'm going to need to hinder its performance and hypnosis was perfect for the job.

"Merlin, get ready to do your thing! Here he comes!" I said to Merlin as the Pidgey dived towards him.

Merlin with his sight set on the Pidgey, began to glow as he prepped to use hypnosis.

"Use sand attack!" ordered Falkner as the Pidgey unfurled its wings, slowing itself down to almost a halt as it closed in on Merlin.

The Pidgey then brewed up a gust of wind with its wings that picked up tons of loose dirt that flew into Merlin's face as it flew backwards and shot back up into the air. Merlin's concentration was shattered and had to look away and shake his head attempting to remove the dirt off his face. As the Hoothoot slowly regained his ability to see the Pidgey struck him from behind knocking him to the ground. Flying back up into the air after its attack the Pidgey continued to circle Merlin once more.

"Merlin, get back up and use hypnosis!" I said.

Merlin tried to stand up and use his psychic powers but the Pidgey banking sharply zoomed past him kicking up more dirt and loose grass in its wake. Incapable of seeing Merlin hobbled around aimlessly trying to regain his sense of direction. As he struggled to restore his vision Merlin was struck once more by the lightning fast bird.

Merlin was in trouble, he needed to get air borne and away from those sand attacks.

"Merlin, fly up and use foresight to track him!" I said as I motioned my hand to issue my command.

Merlin, wiping away the dirt with his wings, flew up into the air. Once air borne Merlin's ever watchful eyes his sights on the Pidgey circling around him and began to glow red. I figured Merlin would be able to track his foe better with foresight so that he may better use his hypnosis attack.

"Pidgey use quick attack!" Falkner ordered.

The Pidgey turned sharply in the air and spiraled towards Merlin, who by psychically tracking the Pidgey was able to dive under the incoming attack. Merlin then tried to counter by tackling his foe but the bird was too swift for him. The Pidgey seeing an opportunity quickly came back around for another quick attack. After striking Merlin it tried to fly off but was stopped when it noticed that Merlin had caught its leg with his taloned grasp.

"Good job Merlin, now use peck!" I said seeing the opportunity for Merlin to finally do some damage.

Merlin dragging the Pidgey out of the air towards him unleashed a barrage of jabbing pecks.

"Pidgey dive out of there!" said Falkner motioning his command.

The Pidgey with its back towards the ground unfurled its wings and unleashed a powerful torrent of wind straight up. Try as he might, Merlin could not help but be dragged down with the Pidgey. Before the two hit the grass below the Pidgey whipped its body around and sent Merlin straight towards the ground. Merlin tried to regain flight but was struck again by the Pidgey who had dove downward into Merlin to make sure that he continued to fall.

Merlin crashed to the ground with a sudden thud, causing to Lyra gasp as I called out to him "Merlin, you okay!?"

But to my dismay, Merlin was knocked out and couldn't fight anymore. This was bad; I needed Merlin to last longer so Nile could fight Falkner's Pidgeotto in his best condition. I should have known better, Merlin wasn't a good match up against physical attackers and now I was down a pokemon. I wanted to send in Teeka to finish off the Pidgey. But I couldn't, or else I would reveal my secret weapon before I needed it. It looked like Nile would just have to work overtime for this fight.

"Merlin you did well, now return." I said returning Merlin to his pokeball.

"Nile you're up, let's go!" I said tossing Nile's pokeball.

In a brilliant flash of light Nile burst forth ready to fight as he growled his challenge towards the air borne Pidgey.

"So this is the Totodile Li warned me about? Pidgey head for the trees and use it as cover, go!" ordered Falkner as he indicated with his hand where the Pidgey should go.

As the Pidgey flew towards a patch of trees inside the aviary Nile darted in after it. I ran over to the trees in order to keep Nile in my sights. Once inside the pasture of trees Nile looked up towards the canopy searching for his foe.

"Nile stay on your guard!" I said warning Nile of the danger from above.

Without warning, the Pidgey burst from its hiding spot among the trees and darted towards Nile with intense speed. But unlike Merlin, Nile had better reflexes where he lacked supernatural powers. Nile reacted swiftly and side stepped out of the Pidgey's way and then drove his elbow into the Pidgey's back with one swift motion. The Pidgey toppled over itself as it crashed into the ground.

"Impressive, your Totodile has great reflexes." Falkner said as he admired Nile's attack.

"Oh he's just getting started, Nile use water gun!" I instructed Nile.

Nile took a deep breath and then unleashed a column of pressurized water towards the Pidgey. The Pidgey tried to avoid the attack but was caught by the torrent of water and was flung against a tree. I was right in my judgment of Falkner's Pidgey not being very durable for it was knocked out cold with one shot. Nile roared triumphantly at his quick victory.

"Yeah you go Nile!" Lyra cheered.

The energy in to room was climbing as me and Falkner were both down one pokemon. But now was not the time to celebrate my small victory. Falkner from what I heard only uses two pokemon and his Pidgeottto was next. I hope Nile is ready for this.

Falkner returning his Pidgey to its pokeball turned to me and said. "You're much better than what Li made you out to be, but I hope your team is ready to face my final pokemon!"

Falkner motioned as he held up his hand and whistled.

In response to its trainers call the Pidgeotto that saved Lyra and I the other night flew from a nearby tree over to Falkner perching itself on his outstretched arm. I was shocked when I realized his pokemon was much larger than I recalled; it was at least a foot taller than Nile with a wing span of over six or seven feet.

"You remember Pidgeotto, don't you?" Falkner said as he stroked his pokemon's red feathered crest.

How could I forget; just looking at the Pidgeotto made the pain in my back resurge as it brought back memories of the other night. This Pidgeotto was Falkner's ace in the hole and Nile would have to be on his A game to fight it.

"Nile this is it! We've worked hard for this now let's show him what we're made of. Go and use bite!" I yelled as I pointed my hand towards Nile's adversary.

"Pidgeotto, quickly use gust!" Falkner said as he motioned his hand setting the bird of prey loose into the fray.

Nile was charging in with teeth bearing as the raptor flew low towards him with immense speed. Suddenly the Pidgeotto unfurled its wings stopping in mid-flight just a few yards away from Nile. Nile stopped in his tracks as he saw the Pidgeotto unfold its wings in a display of power. Then in one lighting fast motion it whipped its wings together with a thunderous clap and unleashed a violent torrent of wind that shot towards Nile like a cannon ball. The gust of wind smashed into Nile knocking him off his feet and sent him flying, crashing into the grass several feet away. Nile dazed, swayed back and forth as he tried to stand back up. Without warning the large bird of prey kicked off the ground with its large wings and darted through the air towards Nile.

"Nile look out!" I yelled.

It was too late; when Nile looked up the Pidgeotto it had already smashed its wing into Nile's gut. Nile was thrown like a toy as the Pidgeotto swept him aside. The bird of prey swooped around once again and flew low to ground coming in for another attack. Nile shot up to his feet and roared in anger as if declaring to his foe _"Come at me!"_

The Pidgeotto smashed into Nile, the totodile in response slammed his arms into the massive bird trying to stop it. But the Pidgeotto would not be stopped and Nile skidded across the grass as the bird continued to fly forward and plow Nile across the open ground. I was stunned by how easily the Pidgeotto could over power him. Even with all of Nile's strength he struggled to stand as his clawed feet left gashes in the ground as he skidded across the grass.

"Nile use bite!" I yelled.

Seeing his opening Nile sank his teeth into Pidgeotto's right wing. The massive bird of prey suddenly halted its relentless charge and landed trying to shake Nile loose.

"Pidgeotto use gust again! Send him flying!" Falkner commanded.

Using its powerful wings the bird of prey lifted Nile in the air, then with a thunderous clap of its wings it sent him flying. Nile flew several meters as he tumbled in the air before he violently smashed into a nearby tree.

"Nile!" Lyra and I exclaimed in horror.

Nile struggled to get back up as was breathing heavily. He then turned to face the Pidgeotto who was waiting patiently to see if Nile would fall back to the ground. Rather than fall, Nile instead inhaled deeply and unleashed a torrent of water towards his adversary. The Pidgeotto calmly watched as the water came rushing towards it. Before the water hit home the bird once more clapped its wings together and let loose a thunderous gale of wind that obliterated the column of water and smashed Nile back up against the tree.

"Nile are you okay?!" I said panicking.

Nile fell to the ground and wouldn't get back up, Nile had lost. I ran up to him to make sure he was okay.

"Nile! Please get up!" I said kneeled next to him.

I was in shock, Nile was unbelievably strong in his own right even when his type was at a disadvantage he still pull through. But this Pidgeotto was tossing him around like he was a mere child.

"Well, it would seem we're done here Gold. You fought well but your Totodile was no match for Pigdeotto, come Pidgeotto let us…"said Falkner before I cut him off.

"Wait, I'm not done yet, I have one more pokemon!" I yelled.

"You do?" said Falkner as he raised his brow.

"Then by all means we should continue." He said as he motioned for his Pidgeotto to ready itself.

I reached for Teeka and Nile's pokeballs from my bag and after returning Nile I stood up and said "I now know that none of my pokemon can compete physically with your Pidgeotto and trying to best it with sheer strength will not work. But, I did some research and thanks to Lyra, I have one last trick up my sleeve. Teeka it's your time to shine!" I said tossing Teeka's pokeball.

The following flash of light unleashed Lyra's Mareep who once fully formed skipped around merrily as if it was clueless to the imposing bird that stood across from her. Teeka meeped cutely as it looked towards the Pidgeotto. The bird of prey tilted its head curious as to whether or not it should be taking this new opponent seriously. Teeka in response stuck her tongue out and mocked the bird of prey as if saying "_hit me if you can"._

"You plan to beat Pidgeotto with such a small pokemon? I can see that you're planning to use electricity, but are you seriously expecting this Mareep to win?" said Falkner who was just as confused as his Pidgeotto.

"Oh I know she doesn't look like much, but I have faith in her. Isn't that one of the lessons Li taught you?" I said smirking.

"Hmm, very well then, Pidgeotto use gust!"

"Teeka, quickly use cotton guard!" I issued.

Teeka withdrew into her wool coat as the thunderous gust of wind rushed past her and sent her rolling across the indoor meadow. When she stopped rolling around she poked her head out of her wool coat and mocked the Pidgeotto by sticking out her tongue and making a silly noise. The Pidgeotto's eye twitched angrily as it kicked off the ground a soared towards the Mareep.

"Teeka quickly head for the trees!" I said.

Teeka poked the rest of her limbs out of her wool coat and she quickly dashed towards the pasture of trees with the Pidgeotto hot on her tail. Before the massive bird of prey could strike the little sheep Teeka ran around a tree forcing the bird of prey to veer off her trail. The Pidgeotto landed inside the grove of trees and turned quickly rushing over to peck at the Mareep. Teeka was small in comparison to the large bird and was able to maneuver around the trees avoiding the pecks. The large bird struggled to get at the little sheep as it played a desperate game of cat and mouse around the trees that made cumbersome for the bird to move on just two legs.

I could tell the Pidgeotto was growing more and more frustrated as it was thwarted at every turn by this annoying little sheep who continued to keep the trees between it and the massive bird. In the process of chasing the Mareep the Pidgeotto circled the grove of trees several times and eventually lost sight of Teeka. Infuriated it looked around franticly searching for its opponent before it heard a series of laughing meeps. It turned its head and saw Teeka was laying in a pasture of flowers just outside of the tree line laughing to herself as she watched the Pidgeotto wander aimlessly looking for her.

"Your Mareep is a slippery one." said Falkner growing a bit frustrated.

"Oh you have no idea; me and Lyra spent nearly half an hour trying to catch her last night." I said as Lyra laughed recalling our game of "_catch that sheep before it fries the TV"_.

Angrily the Pidgeotto shrieked as it broke through the tree line with blinding speed carried aloft by its powerfull wings charging Teeka. The Mareep quickly reacted by receding into her wool coat as the Pidgeotto hacked and slashed its talons at the ball of wool. No matter how furiously it striked the soft wool the Pidgeotto seemingly did nothing to harm Teeka. As the hacking and slashing continued the Pidgeotto's claws quickly became tangled in Teeka's wool. Lifting its leg in the air the bird of prey shook its foot trying to shake Teeka off. Angrily the Pidgeotto flew into the air and continued to try and pry off the ball of wool entangled in its claws. In its frantic attempts to free itself the Pidgeotto began to notice the ball of wool attached to its foot begining to spark with static electricity.

"Yes my plan worked!" I exclaimed confidently.

"Wait you planned this? What are you talking about?" said Falkner shocked.

"It's simple really, the more that Teeka moves around, the more stactic electricity is stored in her wool. Before all that running around she did I doubt that Teeka would be able to harm Pidgeotto with its normal static charges let alone win. But thanks to your Pidgeotto's hasty nature and onslaught of attacks, Teeka's wool has become super charged! And now to make things even better your Pidgeotto can't escape this next attack!" I said holding my hand up triumphantly.

Falkner's eyes widened when he realized my cunning plan.

"Teeka use Thunder shock!"

Teeka meeped as she unleashed every last watt of electricity she had in a brilliant display of arcing electricity that jumped across the Pidgeotto's body. The cackle of electrical sparks filled the air as volt after volt was pumped into the bird of prey. Once the static attacks ceased the Pidgeotto, with the tips of its feathers singed, fell to the ground. Teeka then promptly freed herself from the bird's talons and skipped away happily towards Lyra as if nothing happen.

"You did it Gold! You won!" Lyra cheered as she ran over to me with Teeka in her arms.

"Oh my god you're right, I won! I actually won! I did it, I beat my first Gym leader!" I said in disbelief.

Falkner walked over to his Pidgeotto and returned it to its pokeball.

He then turned and said "Gold that was very impressive; I have to say that I haven't fought anyone like you in quite a while, here I want you to have this."

Falkner reached into one of his pockets and pulled out what looked like a hexagonal pair of silver wings.

"This is the Zephyr Badge of the Violet City gym. Take it as proof of defeating this gym, you've earned it." said Falkner as he handed me the badge.

"Oh, and here is your prize money, I hope you spend it well." He said as he handed me a check for a relatively large sum of cash.

"Gold I hope you continue to grow as a trainer and perhaps we will meet again, but for now I must bid you ado. I have important business to tend to." He said as he turned.

"Wait before you go, I never got to thank you properly for saving us the other night!" I said before he walked away.

"Oh there's no need to thank me, it's my job to help this town and anyone else who needs it. Now then you two have a nice day." said Falkner as he ascended a nearby tree to tend to whatever it was he was doing when we arrived.

I held up the badge I just earned and admired it.

Lyra tugged on my sweatshirt and said "You did it Gold, your first Gym badge."

"I know, I can't believe it. And it's thanks to you little buddy." I said as I patted Teeka on her head.

"*giggle* and you thought you couldn't do it, I told you that you could." Lyra said giggling to herself.

I unzipped my sweat shirt and found a good spot to pin my new badge on the inside.

"We should go now Gold, we need to get some lunch and find a dress for me."

"Right behind you I'm starving." I said as Me, Lyra, Marill and Teeka walked out of the gym and into town.

We made our way towards the center of town where we found a fast food joint and ate after we dropped Merlin and Nile off at a pokemon center. When we finished we went to where the market was and found a designers dress store. As we walked inside I noticed just how many dresses were in there.

"Oh god I hope this doesn't take long." I moaned.

To which Lyra responded by jabbing me in my side.

"Hey!"

"Oh be quiet Gold, I told you already this won't take long, now help me find a dress." she said holding up her hand threatening to jab me again with a sly look on her face.

"Okay, okay, fine just don't jab me again." I said as I started to browse through the myriad of dresses on hangers.

My mom used to be an artist and she taught me a thing or two about color theory and what makes other colors pop. I thought about Lyra's eye and hair color which were both brown. Hmmm, what was the color that went well with brown? As I tried to remember what my mom told me I glanced over to see Lyra had already grabbed about three or five dresses, all of which I could tell would look bad on her. She wasn't kidding when she said she didn't know what would look good her.

I guess I should've expected this from her. She always hated dressing up and preferred to wear her short shorts and t-shirts. The only things I think she liked to wear that were fancy were the hats she wore. Like the white one with the big bow she wore now.

I went back to trying to remember what colors were good complements of brown. I then remembered the cherry trees from Cherry grove and their gorgeous pink petals which looked so extravagant because of the brown color of the tree made it pop. That was it! Pink was the color that made brown pop. But it would have to be a pale pink, or else Lyra's brown eyes and hair would be overpowered. I then looked for any dresses that had a pale pink color.

I looked down the rows of hangers and found one in particular that thought would be perfect. It wasn't too complicated, except what caught my eye was a beautiful design of oddly enough a cherry tree in full bloom that ran around the skirt of the dress. I grabbed it and looked around for Lyra who had accumulated about eight other dresses in the time it took me to find one.

"Lyra I think I found a good dress for you." I said walking up to her holding the dress up to show her.

"Are you sure that would look good on me? I've never really been one for pink." she said turning to me and looking at the dress with a scrutinizing stare.

"Can you at least try it, or else why do you need me here?" I said holding out the dress as I offered to take the multitude of dresses she was carrying.

"Alright fine, I'll give it a try." she said handing me all the dresses she had and taking the pink one.

We went over to the dressing rooms where I placed all the dresses she had given me on nearby hanger.

"Okay this may take a bit, so stay here while I change." said Lyra as she entered the room.

I sat on nearby bench to get off my feet. I was about to think of something productive like how I could've done better in my fight with Falkner when the thought Lyra undressing popped inside my head. I tried to think of something else but the thought persisted as I thought about her slim body and the time that she clung to me so tightly when we were trying to catch Merlin. I could feel my face blushing and I desperately tried to think of something else.

What was wrong with me? Lyra was my best friend, I couldn't be thinking about her like this. I looked around trying to take my mind off her and saw that Teeka and Marill were playing tag among the rows of dresses, which was pretty entertaining for about a minute. But then I got really bored and the thought of Lyra undressing came back into my head.

"Ugghh, god I'm bored." I exclaimed trying to take my mind off of what I was thinking.

"You have apps on your pokedex Gold. You can play Poke-pinball or something?" said Lyra from her changing room.

"Wait, this thing as Apps? I have Poke-pinball? Dude this thing is awesome!" I said pulling out the pokedex from my pocket.

I scrolled through the media menu and found games like Minesweeper, Pong, Tetris, Poke-pinball, and more. Before I could start anything Lyra came out of the changing room.

"Well how do I look?" she said.

I was right, the pink made her chocolate color eyes pop. She looked beautiful in the dress.

"Well are you going to say anything or are you just going to stare?" she said.

"Um, you look good." I said nervously.

"Thanks you have a good eye, I never thought pink would look good on me."

"Well it's because of your eye color, brown and pink go well together."

"In that case I'll take it." Lyra said as she turned around to change back.

We bought the dress using some of the prize money Falkner had given me. We then went back to the hotel and we ate dinner and went to bed. The next day Lyra got up extra early saying she had to get ready and I should head to the contest hall in few hours. As I made myself some breakfast with what little food we neglected to finish from dinner I noticed Merlin and Teeka were exhausted and sleeping over on the bed. But when I finished my meal I noticed Nile was surprisingly spry for having fought a gym leader the other day.

As I got dressed I said to Nile "You look like you're in good shape, wanna come and watch Lyra perform?"

Nile looked up at me and smiled at first but then he looked reluctant. He must be concerned about all the people that would be there. Nile was still having trust issues, the only times that he wasn't nervous around others was when he was given a challenge to overcome.

"Nile I know you're shy of other people, so just stay with me and you'll be fine, come on it will be fun." I said trying to get Nile to leave his comfort zone.

Nile looked back up at me and nervously smiled and nodded his head.

"Great let's go then. Lyra said we should leave right about now anyway. Oh and please don't bare your teeth at any one."

Nile shot me a glare as if saying _"I won't, Gosh you act as if I will."_

We left the hotel and Nile as usual clung closely to my legs wanting to avoid other people as we walked down the streets towards the contest hall. When we arrived I noticed the place looked like an opera house and lots of people were there, as well as other trainers. I've never seen so many people and pokemon in one place before and I saw that Nile was practically hugging my leg he was so nervous of the other people.

I found a bulletin that showed where all the contests were and looked for the one Lyra was in. I got the location and made my way there with Nile staying close to me. The room not surprisingly looked like a theater room for plays. I found a good seat and I sat down and Nile sat in my lap. We waited for a while as more and more people came to sit in the rows and rows of seats.

Then the lights grew dim as an announcer walked on stage.

"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to today's cuteness contest where four trainers will compete to see whose pokemon is the most adorable. Here are our four contestants." Said the announcer as she motioned for the curtains to roll back.

The curtains pulled back and there stood Lyra along with two other girls and one guy. She looked very pretty in the pink dress I chose for her. I looked down at her Marill and saw Lyra had dressed her up in an adorable little Eskimo coat which made me wonder what Lyra was planning.**  
**

"Our first contestant is Johnathan from Goldenrod and his Sentret Max. Then we have Beth from Goldenrod as well and her Pidgey Gillion. Next we have Kelly of our own Violet City and her Rattata Carrot. Last we have Lyra from New Bark and her Marill. Alright let's get started."

The crowd applauded as the displays of each trainer began. I'll be honest when I say that the other three displays were pretty good. Especially the one where the Pidgey used roost and sand attack to make its feathers fluff up in order to make itself look like a feather duster. Or when the sentret used defense curls to perform several acrobatic spins as it landed perfectly balanced on its tail. Lyra would need to do extra well in order to impress the judges and I was still itching to find out what she was going to do. Keeping her performance a secret from me was her way of teasing me, the way she always does.

"And last but not least we have Lyra and her Marill." Said the announcer who turned as the spot lights focused on Lyra.

Lyra walked out on stage with Marill tailing behind her.

"Marill lets go, use Hail!" said Lyra waving her hand to start her performance.

Marill looked up and shot up hundreds of little balls of ice into the air. I was very curious as to what she was doing thinking she was about to make a huge mess.

"Good now use defense curl Marill!" she said as she waved her hand again to indicate what Marill was to do.

Marill jumped into the air and curled up into a ball and spun. As the pellets of ice fell down they were drawn towards Marill and started to clump up around her. Once the ice formed a big ball it came down and landed softly making a dome of ice that oddly enough looked a lot like an igloo with bits of snow scattered around the dome to set the winter scene.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Marill and her Igloo!" Lyra said as Marill made a hole in the side of the dome and rolled out and waved to the audience.

That was incredible I thought to myself; I had no idea how creative Lyra could be. The whole audience was ecstatic as her performance was clearly the best of the whole show. Lyra and Marill bowed and walked off as a cleaning crew of two Machamps that worked back stage walked out with large snow shovels and quickly cleared the stage of the igloo and balls of ice. Afterward Lyra and the other trainers came out on stage as the judges got together and chatted over the four performances. Once they made their decision they told the announcer the winner.

"Ladies and gentlemen we have a winner, drum roll please." said the announcer as two spot lights started to move around the stage as a drum roll played in the background.

"The winner is…Lyra and her Marill!"

The two spot lights centered on Lyra whose face was of disbelief and joy. Lyra then walked up to the announcer.

"Lyra your performance was incredibly cute and creative, as a show of your hard work we give you this ribbon for wining this Cuteness contest." said the Announcer as she handed Lyra the ribbon.

I clapped along with the crowd as she took her bow and the curtains closed. The lights came back on and the crowd began to vacate the room. As they left I overheard many of them were talking about Lyra's adorable Maril and how much they wished they had one. I left the theater room cutting my way through the crowd and met Lyra outside in the hall.

"That was amazing Lyra, your performance was incredible!" I said congratulating her.

"Thanks Gold, Marill and I worked very hard to get that routine down." she said holding Marill in her arms.

"But I have to know, how did you teach her Hail? I never knew Marill could do that." I inquired.

"Nah ah ah, a master performer never reveals her secrets. You'll just have to figure that one on your own." She said waving her figure with her sly smile.

"*sigh* I should have figured you weren't going to tell me. You and your secrets." I said as I scratched the back of my neck.

"Well it looks like both of us have made our first steps towards our dreams, right Gold." she said holding up her ribbon.

"Yeah you're right, and we'll keep going till we both succeed." I said as I held out my badge.

Lyra nodded as we both reflected on our success's here in Violet City.

"Now then, let's head back to the hotel and get some rest. I got you some ramen with crab and shrimp mixed in."

"Really? Sweet we're having ramen tonight!" exclaimed Lyra.

"And tomorrow we head for Azalea town." I said as Lyra and I went back to the hotel


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7: We Delve Deep

"Gold… Gold… Gold wake up."

I was stirred from my sleep and unenthusiastically opened my eyes to see the slim figure of Lyra dressed in the grey sweat pants and tank top that she wore for pajamas. She was standing over me near the head of the couch. Her chocolate eyes gazed down at me and gave off the impression that she was happy to see me finally up.

The room was sparsely lit, with only the light in the room coming from the kitchen. I moved my arm out from under the covers to read what time it was on my watch, it was roughly 10:00 am.

"Morning sleepy head." Lyra said taunting the fact I had slept late.

"*yawn*… morning Lyra." I said as I rubbed my eyes and sat up.

"I have some breakfast ready for us, and while you were sleeping I got our things together too." said Lyra pointing towards our bags she had neatly left near the door to the hotel room.

"Well that's good. Sorry I slept so late or I would've helped you." I said as I got off the couch.

"It's okay we've been getting up pretty early for two days now so I decided to let you sleep," she said as she turned and made her way towards the bathroom.

"I'm going to get changed and I'll be right out." she said closing the bathroom door behind her.

I in turn got changed as well sporting my usual black sweats, red hoodie, and my favorite black and gold cap. After I changed I sat down to eat the last bits of leftovers we've accumulated over our stay in Violet city. I looked around the room and saw our pokemon scattered about, all of whom were sleeping.

Merlin was enjoying his omnipresent view of the room from up top one of the lamps in the far corner, lightly bobbing his head up and down as he breathed. Teeka was in middle of the room sprawled out on floor with Nile rudely using her as pillow. The little Totodile looked like a slob with his jaws wide open facing up and his tongue hanging out the side. He gave off the composure of someone who had passed out drunk. I laughed when I saw the two and then I looked for the victor of yesterday's contest, Marill, who was curled up on one of the couch's armrests.

I went back to eating and noticed Lyra had left our map of Johto on the table. I picked it up and unfolded the parchment to plot our route to Azalea town. I had done some research on this town last night while Lyra was slurping away at her favorite ramen noodles. The town was famous for its Slowpoke population; which are considered sacred there. The gym leader was a bug type user and he was aptly named Bugsy. Though he's rather young for a gym leader in my opinion, but from what I heard his research into bugs was quite amazing. His star player was a Scyther, a nasty looking mantis creature with cleavers for hands.

As I was getting the plan down Lyra came out of the bathroom dressed in her short suspenders, red shirt, and the big white hat that she loved.

"So Gold, you have a plan?" she said as she sat down to eat her share of the leftovers.

"Yeah, it looks like we're going to have to head south for quite a ways. There's a road we can follow for about half the way but after that there's a partial mountain range we need to get past using hiking trails. I think the trip will take about two maybe three days so we're going to have to camp out on the hiking trails." I said as I pointed out the path on the map as Lyra watched.

"Camping? Oh, it'll be just like those times we disobey our moms and we would sneak out at night and camp next the river." Lyra said closing her eyes.

"I wouldn't really call that camping if our mothers found us before we could even start a tent." I said jokingly.

"Yeah, but that's what made it so much fun, you know you had fun too." She said opening her eyes looking back at me.

"If I recall, you were the one always dragging me into it, showing up at my window late at night and calling me a wuss if I didn't come with you. And I would regret doing it almost all the time. You have any idea how many times I got grounded because of you?" I said in a rather distasteful voice.

"You know for being my best friend you get me in a lot of trouble you know." I added.

"If you regretted doing it so much, _then why did you come with me every time_?" Lyra said pointing at me with a sly voice and a smirk on her face.

I paused as I realized she had me there, I would always go with her. I could tell that Lyra knew that she won this argument, her sly confidence was written all over her face. Man, she's just as manipulative now as she was then. I'll never understand how she's able to win every argument we have without even trying. But I liked that about her, she's always been fun to talk too.

"Alright you got me there, but this will probably be the first time we actually, you know, go camping. You know with the fire, the tents, the whole thing and such."

"Well come on let's get going then, I want to reach the hiking trails before sunset," said Lyra as she got up from the table.

"Marill, Teeka time to go!" said Lyra waking her pokemon as well as the others in the room.

Merlin and Marill got up from their spots and made their way over to us. Teeka unfortunately awoke to see Nile using her soft wool as a personal pillow. Her eye twitched irritably looking up at the rude reptile on top of her. She tried to shake the heavy Totodile off her but he wouldn't budge, so she improvised. Static arced across her wool and Nile spastically shot up to his feet and then looked around angrily at Teeka snapping his jaws. To which Teeka responded by sticking her tongue out and making a silly noise. Lyra and I laughed as we saw the two bicker at each other to the point that Nile attempted to chase the Mareep around the room.

"Okay you two are getting a bit too feisty, Nile return for now." I said as I grabbed Nile's pokeball and returned him.

Lyra did the same with Teeka as we left the hotel. We walked to the edge of town and turned back to look at the sea of violet roofs with Sprout tower to the north. After admiring the view we finally got out of Violet city and headed south along a road. The road was, for the most part, very up kept and was relatively large compared to the ones that I was accustomed to back at Cherry Grove and New Bark.

This however quickly changed as the terrain became more and more rugged as we began to enter the mountain range that made its home on this peninsula of land. The road became more and more like the ones Lyra and I knew and loved with nature all around us. Lyra was having a good time from what I could tell; she's always loved being outdoors. And yet somehow her skin has managed to remain rather pale for some unknown reason. As we were walking around a bend in the path I noticed what looked like spider webs on the nearby trees, but they were bigger.

"Lyra check these out." I said as I walked up to one of the webs to get closer look.

"Wow those are huge! What kinda pokemon do you think made these?" said Lyra as she looked up at one of the webs that spanned the length of two trees.

"I don't know, it's probably a spider of some kind." I said walking away from Lyra to see another web that engulfed an entire bush.

The webs seemed to have been there for a long time because the leaves that were under them were brown and dying from what I could only guess was lack of sunlight. As I looked at the webs I noticed that unlike normal spider webs they seemed to be comprised of two different threads. Woven together as a main structure were threads about the width of a pencil which then had thinner threads woven between them. The thinner ones were strange though, they were coated in little droplets of what looked like purple liquid. These droplets when they flickered in the sun gave all the webs around us an odd pink aura.

"*gasp*… Gold… don't move." Lyra said from behind me.

I froze up heeding to Lyra's command.

Standing motionless I said in an uneasy tone, "What is it?"

"Gold don't look now but… there are giant spiders hanging over us." she said in low voice trying not to alarm whatever was looming over us.

Despite what she said I couldn't fight my curiosity and I turned my head to look up and saw them. There were at least seven or so green spiders with yellow and black legs and had red eyes. They were big roughly the size of soccer balls and they were descending down from the tree tops suspended by their treads.

"Gold they're everywhere!" said Lyra worriedly.

My first thought was to run, but no, this time I wouldn't. I'm stronger than I was before, Nile and Merlin both have grown a lot since we were attacked by the Spearow. No, this time I won't run. So I slowly reached for my bag to not provoke the looming spiders. I grabbed Nile and Merlin's pokeballs and readied them. I then stood tall and turned my head smirking at Lyra.

"Dont worry," I said turning my hat around to let my dark blue hair hang to the side.

"I got this one. Nile, Merlin, let's go!" I said as I quickly tossed both pokeballs.

Nile and Merlin burst forth from their Pokeballs and took center stage with the high wire spider trapeze artists hanging above. Nile looked up and smirked at his new opponents while Merlin tilted his head towards them as well. The spiders reacting to the sudden movements dropped down to the ground and quickly surrounded the duo.

"Gold, be careful." said Lyra showing fear on her face.

I didn't blame her for being scared; she's probably remembering the encounter with the Spearow. She was stuck on the other side of the road with the Nile, Merlin, and the hoard of spiders between me and her.

"Don't worry I will." I said with confidence.

"Nile do what you do best and Merlin give him air support!"

They both nodded and Nile ran with jaws open towards the nearest spider while Merlin took to the air. The first spider pounced Nile but he quickly reacted and swiped his reptilian claws at the bug and knocked it back to the ground. A second spider then jumped from behind and latched on to his back. Merlin responded to the spider's attack and swooped down to peck the bug off of Nile's back.

The hoard of green spiders began closing in and several of them pounced at Nile. Nile grabbed one of the spider's legs mid-jump and swung it into an oncoming spider beside him. Merlin dove again and pecked at several spiders before returning to the air. Some of the spiders shifted their strategy and started shooting threads of silky webbing at Merlin. Merlin dodged these threads as Nile tried to take out the spiders that were firing off the threads of silk. Merlin managed to escape the barrage of webs, but then the spiders shifted their focus on Nile. Nile was about to bite into a spider when a web wrapped around his jaws and tied them shut. Nile turned towards the spider that was still attached to the line. Grabbing the thread Nile yanked the spider towards him and socked it straight in the face. Before he could claw away the webs on his jaws a line attached to his left arm and tried to pull him aside. Nile tried to do the same as before but a second line attached to his other arm and pulled his arms to the sides.

"Merlin! Help Nile he's in trouble!"

Merlin dove down and severed one of the lines with his talons. Nile with his free arm grabbed the other thread and swung the spider around and knocked it into the others. Nile ripped the webbing away from his mouth and roared as Merlin dove behind him and pecked at yet another spider that was approaching from behind.

The spiders were no match for the duo and they quickly shot threads of web into the trees and receded back up into their canopy. Lyra seeing the spiders retreat ran over to me from the other side of road.

"Come on let's get out of here, they might come back with more." Lyra said relieved the spiders were gone but her tone betrayed her fear of more showing up.

"Yeah, let's get out of here. Merlin, Nile we're leaving let's go!" I said turning to the two.

Merlin flew over and perched himself on my shoulder and Nile dashed over to us as we darted away. We kept moving till we couldn't see any more of the violet tinted webs in the forest. The road was quickly starting to take and upward climb as we saw the mountains in the distance. We eventually saw a sign that said mountain trails ahead and that the road quickly diminished into thin paths that climbed up into mountain range.

As we were walking I noticed Nile would every so often scratch at his arms and snout. I didn't think much about until I saw him doing it more frequently.

"Hey Nile you okay?" said Lyra who took notice to his incessant scratching.

Nile looked up at her and gave her a reassuring look trying to say he was fine and stopped scratching himself. But as Nile stood there for a moment he twitched liked he was fighting the urge to scratch. Closing his eyes he tried desperately not to scratch his arms and snout but then he gave in and clawed at himself.

"What's wrong with him?" I said kneeling down next to him.

Merlin who was perched on my shoulder eyed the Totodile as if he were assessing the situation. He then tilted his head sideways and tugged at my hat with his beak.

"Gold, I think Merlin knows what's wrong." said Lyra.

"You do? Merlin what is it?" I said turning to look at the Hoothoot.

As Nile continued to squirm around scratching his arms an mouth Merlin took off and flew up to my sweat shirts pocket and pulled out my pokedex with his foot he then placed it in my hand and then perched himself back on my shoulder.

"The spiders! That's it I think Merlin wants you to look up the spiders. Maybe the pokedex can explain why Nile is itchy." Lyra exclaimed

Merlin tilted his head as if saying yes to her assumption.

"Okay I'll look them up, gimme a sec." I said as I flipped the device open.

I scrolled through the bugs section and found a match.

"Okay they're called Spinarak. They are part bug and poison, and they coat their webs in droplets of poison. The poison causes skin irritation and if not treated quickly will cause paralysis….. shit," I said as I looked in my bag.

"I don't have any antidotes. You got any?" I said to Lyra

"I've got one but it's my last one." She said digging into her bag and handing me a vial of antidote.

"Nile come here, this will take care of that itch." I said as I kneeled down and gave Nile a shot of the vial.

Thankfully Nile quickly stopped scratching himself and he smiled at me for making him feel better.

"Glad we fixed that before it got worse. Thanks Merlin." I said standing back up.

I turned to look at Lyra who had a horrified look on her face and she was staring at something off in the woods.

"Oh my god, Gold look! They followed us!" Lyra shrieked as she pointed her finger towards the forest.

I turned and saw a Spinarak about ten yards out dangling from a thread of web just watching us.

"Crap, they must have been following us and were waiting for Nile to stop moving when their poison took effect." I said angrily.

"Gold we need to run, we have no more antidote, we can't fight them." Lyra said as she tugged on my sweat shirt in order to make me move.

"Arrgh you're right, come on Nile, we can't fight them we have to go!" I said as me and Lyra started to run down the trail with Nile tailing us.

As we ran I could hear the rustling of tree branches and I could see several Spinarak following us in the trees. We kept on running and as we came around another bend in the trail Lyra quickly grabbed me from behind.

"Gold, look out!"

"Whoa, Lyra what are you….."

I stopped when I realize Lyra had just saved me from running into a massive web by mere inches.

As Lyra pulled me back away from the web I said, "Jesus Christ, I almost ran into that, thank you."

"No problem, but what do we do now we're stuck!" she said looking around franticly.

I turned to look down the road and saw the Spinarak were gaining on us. I was looking desperately for any way out when I spotted a cave off to our left that was in the hillside. I would prefer not to go into a cave if I was given the choice, but there was no other way to go, the Spinarak made sure of that with their webs.

"Lyra this way!" I said as I grabbed her hand and made off with her towards the cave.

"Gold where are we going?!" She said confused.

"See that cave, that's our only way out we have to take it!"

As the Spinarak closed in on us we dashed towards the cave entrance and went inside. We kept running into the cave until it got dark and we thought we'd lost the Spinarak.

"Phew, I think we lost them, but I can't see a thing in here." I said squinting.

"Oh don't worry, I have some glow sticks; here have one." Lyra said as she slipped a glow stick into my hand.

I cracked it and shook it up and the soft glow of green light began to bathe the surrounding walls and floor. Lyra cracked one as well and with the light we could see the walls of the cave were a very pale brown limestone with stalagmites and stalactites of various sizes hugging the edges of the cave and for the most part they seemed to avoid the center of the passage way making it easy to travel.

"Thank god you spotted this cave Gold." Lyra said as she looked around at the walls of the cave.

"Yeah, I think we should wait here for a bit before we leave though**.** Those Spinarak might be waiting for us outside." I said looking back the way we came hoping not to see a spider crawl out of the darkness.

The cave was rather wide about twenty or so feet with a ceiling of about ten feet. I looked down the way we came and then down towards the other end and wondered what was down there.

"Well if we're here might as well explore it." said Lyra in a cheerful tone almost as if she had forgotten the fact she'd just ran from Spinaraks.

"Um…..okay I don't see why not." I shrugged as I followed Lyra deeper into the cave.

The way Lyra can just walk away from a dangerous situation and find something positive about it has always fascinated me. I swear she's still that little girl that loved to explore that I met five years ago.

The cave kept going deeper and deeper into the mountain as we trekked past several large rock formations and made our way around several bends and turns. The passage way was slowly starting to shrink as we kept going deeper. Eventually we came up to a very narrow crack in the side of a wall.

"Oh I wonder what's on the other side." said Lyra as she looked through the hole.

Lyra being skinner and a head shorter than me could easily slip through but I had to squeeze a bit to fit and Nile followed after me. The chamber we entered was very round and large. It looked like it was machined or something for it had very smooth walls and a flat ceiling. As the green glow of our glow sticks enveloped the room we saw a metal table in the center along with some chairs.

"A table in the middle of a cave?" Lyra said confused.

"Someone was obviously here once." I said.

"But who?" Lyra said as she walked over to the table.

I walked over to the table as well and saw that it was rusted a bit and very dusty. I rubbed my hand across the surface to wipe away the dust and revealed a faint red "R".

"R? What's that supposed to mean?" said Lyra as she held her glow stick closer to the table.

"R…R…R… why does that seem so familiar? I swear I know that from somewhere." I said scratching the back of my neck.

"Wait a minute I know this logo! Lyra, have you ever heard of Team Rocket?"

"Wait, Team Rocket? Aren't they some old crime organization from Kanto?"

"Yeah they were a powerful organization, but three years ago a trainer named Red disbanded them, all by himself."

"Oh I remember now, but I thought they were only in Kanto." Lyra said as she pondered how this table wound up here.

"Well Johto is right next to Kanto so perhaps they had a few hideouts here but abandoned them when they got disbanded. See the table is screwed to the floor so when they left they took everything else but didn't bother to bring the table so that's why there's nothing else in this room." I said kneeling down to point out the screws.

"So there's no one else in here right?" she said nervously looking at me hoping the answer was yes.

"Of course there isn't, Team Rocket was disbanded there's no one else in here besides us." I said to reassure her.

"*Phew* okay good, sorry the talk about crime organizations and being in a dark cave just kinda made me, you know… uneasy." she said holding her arm nervously.

"It's alright trust me we're alone. Hey, maybe they left some cool stuff behind, let's keep looking around." I said turning from the table to look elsewhere with Lyra and Nile following me.

We walked down a few various pathways keeping notice of where we went to make sure we wouldn't get lost. The hallways we walked down were defiantly machine made, I was sure of it now; they all had flat floors, flat ceilings and a curved walls. We found another room after walking down a few hallways and it had yet another table in it this time with a filling cabinet next to it. Near the far end of the room stood some large machines that I thought were some old radio equipment.

"Whoa, this stuff is cool." Lyra said as she held up her glow stick to better illuminate the machines.

"Those look like old radio transmitters, Elm used to have one in his lab before it got refurbished." I said.

"I wonder if they still work." Lyra said as she started fiddling with the various dials, levers, and buttons.

I turned around to look at the rest of the room. The filing cabinet intrigued me the most and I wondered what may still be in it. I walked over to the cabinet and tried to open it, but it was either locked or too rusty to open. As I turned away disappointed I saw something odd out of the corner of my eye. For a moment I thought I saw a light move around in the hallway that we came in from. I stared at the hallway for a second to see if I could see it happen again. To my dismay I saw the light again; it was like a flash light being swung around looking in the dark. Then I heard footsteps. Someone was in here with us! And they were coming this way and fast!

I motioned for Nile to hide and he nodded. But the steps were coming closer and they sounded like they were just around the corner. I had to warn Lyra to hide but now the footsteps were just outside the room, I had no time to warn her. So I just reacted, I hope she doesn't freak out.

"Hey Gold you think you could.. Mmphft." said Lyra as I quickly grabbed her covering her mouth and hid ourselves around the radio machine while Nile ran around some other machine.

Lyra squirmed trying to break free of my hold as she mumbled into my hand, "Gold what the hell! Let go of me, what's wrong with..."

Lyra stopped squirming as she realized what I was doing when both of us heard a voice of someone walking into the room.

"God damn it Bruce, I swear to god we're freaking going in circles again!" said angrily the voice of some older man.

"Hey, it's not my fault that all these hallways look the fucking same!" said a much deeper voice of who I could only assume was Bruce.

We could see the flash lights of the two mystery men flare around the room on both sides of the machine. Lyra froze up and her hands clenched the sides of sweat shirt; I could feel her pulse sky rocket.

"Oh thank god, Bruce I think this is the room Proton was talking about, see, radio transmitters and everything."

"Well thank fucking god it's about time! I swear, ever since I joined Team Rocket I've always got the shit jobs." said the older sounding man in and agitated tone.

Team Rocket!? When those words were uttered my eyes widened and Lyra nearly gasped and she began shaking in my arms. She quickly turned around in my arms and grabbed a hold of me squeezing tightly. Her arms were wrapped around my torso and I could tell she was trying desperately to stop herself from shaking.

"Gold...what are we *whimper*... what are we going to do?" she whispered with her voice filled with fear.

"Just stay quiet and I think they'll leave." I said faintly as I pulled her closer to prevent her shaking from making any noise.

At this point my thoughts were racing. How is this possible?! Are they really Team Rocket?! Why are they here? Who is this Proton guy? Did they follow us? No, they were looking for something, but what?

"How far from the well do you think we are Bruce?" inquired the older man.

"Hell if I know, these caves run from Azalea and all throughout these mountains, but if I had to guess I'd say we're about half way to Violet city. Look there's the file cabinet."

"Alright I'll pry it open, what were the files that were we looking for again?"

"Ah shit what was it? It was something called the…" said Bruce snapping his fingers.

"It's the uuuhhhh, oh it was something called the Dominaza project. Proton said it had something to do with Team Rockets old research into radios or some shit like that, I honestly don't care let's just grab the file and get out of here. These caves give me the creeps man."

A loud sound of bending metal filled the room of what I could only guess was one of them opening the cabinet with some kind of crowbar.

"There it is, good let's…"said one of them before stopping abruptly.

Why did he stop talking? Did he hear us?

"Hey, is that a glow stick?"

My heart sank and Lyra tensed up when he said that. This wasn't good, either me or Lyra must have dropped one of our glow sticks when we dashed behind this machine!

"Yeah, that is a glow stick, what the hell is it doing here?" said the deeper voice of Bruce, who I could hear walking up to the machine we were hiding behind.

Lyra was shaking more and more as the man's footsteps came closer.

"Someone else is in here." said the man behind us in a very serious tone that sent shivers down my spine.

Lyra was breathing erratically and was only muffled by my hand covering her mouth. For a few moments we heard nothing else from behind. I wondered if they had left and were looking somewhere else for us. Perhaps we were safe? Then suddenly a man dressed in all black came around the side of the machine.

"Got you now you little rats!" he yelled.

Lyra screamed as the man tried to grab us.

"Merlin use hypnosis!" I yelled.

Merlin perched on my shoulder shot a spiraling wave of light at the man as I ran around the machine with Lyra in my arms.

"Hold it right there, where the hell do you think you're going!" said the other man who jumped in front of us.

Nile quickly bursting from his hiding place ran over and sank his teeth in the man's leg.

"Ahhhhhh! Son of bitch!" the man hollered in pain as he pulled his leg away from the Totodile.

Seeing my chance I darted past the man holding Lyra's hand. We ran into the network of hallways with Nile tailing us. We could hear the footsteps of the man closing in on us.

"Get back here you brats!"

We raced down the halls and various passageways remembering the route we took to get into the cave. We came up to the room where we found the table and the thin opening that we squeezed through to get in.

"Once we pass this we'll be safe he's too big to follow us, you first quickly!" I said as I let Lyra through the thin opening.

Lyra slipped right through with ease. Unfortunately I tried to squeeze through too quickly and got wedged.

"Gotcha now punk!" said the man who grabbed the hood of my sweat shirt and threw me to the ground.

"You think you and little friend here could just snoop around without us noticing!" said the man staring down at me.

He then kicked me in the gut which made me writhe in pain.

"Gold!" Lyra screamed in horror from behind the slit in the wall.

The man looked down at me as I tried to crawl away. He then reared his foot back to kick me again when a column of water struck the man from behind and knocked him to the floor. Nile running forward to protect me growled as he stood between me and the man. I was in great pain and I struggled to get up as Nile bared his teeth at the man who was starting to get back up. I quickly slipped through the opening and Nile jumped through just as the man ran up to the opening. He was too big to fit through and he cursed profusely as he tried to fit. We didn't stick around to find out if he could and ran until we were far from the cave.

Breathing heavily Lyra said, "Gold, are you okay?"

"I'm fine, my gut just hurts a bit." I said clenching my stomach.

"Was that really Team Rocket?" she said in disbelief.

"They have to be. Think about it, why would they lie about being with Team Rocket if they thought they were alone? No, I hate to say it but I think they're the real deal." I said looking back to where we came from.

"If they're real, then we have to tell someone." said Lyra tugging on my sweat shirt worriedly looking back the way we came as well.

"It's getting late, we're going to have to camp out for the night, but as soon as we get to Azalea we'll tell the police. Let's go farther though while we still have light." I said as we continued to walk down the mountain trails.

Walking wasn't easy though, that man from earlier kicked me really hard and I cringed in pain with every step. But I tried to hide it from Lyra, I didn't want her to worry. Before the sun set we found a spot to set up tent.

"Should we make a fire?" suggested Lyra.

"It's spring we'll be fine without one, plus if that man is out there we shouldn't draw attention to ourselves." I said.

"Oh you right, ugh that sucks I've always wanted to camp with a fire." said Lyra disappointedly as she slumped into the tent.

"Sorry maybe next time Lyra. Merlin since you're nocturnal stay on watch will ya?" I said as I walked over to the tent.

Merlin who was perched in a nearby tree nodded his head and his eyes glowed as he looked around the woods.

I climbed into the tent and tried to get some sleep but the pain in my gut made it hard, not to mention my thoughts were running rampant. After all this time Team Rocket was still at large, but how? I thought that kid Red threw them into disarray? And what was project Dominaza, and what did this Proton guy want with it? I couldn't sleep and I just laid there wondering.

Once morning broke I got up and I nudged Lyra who was lying on the other side to wake her up. We packed up the tent and I returned Merlin back to his pokeball to let him rest.

"Azalea town isn't far now, we should be able to get there before lunch." I said to Lyra as we were about to leave the area.

"*yawn* I'm so tired, I couldn't get any sleep, everything that made a sound made me think that Team Rocket was outside our tent." Lyra said a bit shaken and sitting on the ground.

"Look once we get to Azalea you won't have to worry the police will take care of it, now let's go." I said as I held out my hand to help my sleepy friend up.

Luckily for us we were closer to Azalea than I had first guessed and we arrived about an hour before lunch. Without haste we looked for the local police station. Once we found it we rushed in to talk to them about Team Rocket.

"So let me get this straight, you're claiming that after you two went exploring in a cave up north you found yourselves assaulted by agents of a crime organization that hasn't been seen in Kanto for over two to three years now, who also have never had a presence in Johto? And that they have a base somewhere near Azalea in a cave somewhere. Is that right?" said a rather fat Sheriff with a gruff mustache sitting at a desk with a Growlithe sleeping next to him.

"Yes that's right." said Lyra who sat next to me in the room.

"Do you take me for a fool? Do you two have any idea how many times little brats like you pretend to see Team Rocket and expect me to freak-out on a weekly basis? Hell I've been told just yesterday by some little girl that Team Rocket was in the well outside of our town." said the fat officer in an agitated voice as he gave us an unpleasant look.

Lyra looked upset by the way this man was talking to her, she looked like she was about cry, when she was telling him the truth.

"Hey, everything she told you is the truth!" I retorted in a stern voice.

"Yeah, and I can have you and your little partner in crime arrested for purposely reporting false information to authorities, whacha gonna do now tough guy? I've got bigger problems like the disappearing Slowpoke to deal with than to listen to you two, now get out of my office." said the officer giving me the evil eye.

"But, we're…" said Lyra before I cut her off.

"Come on Lyra let's not waste our time here. They're not going to believe us anyway." I said as I placed my hand on her shoulder and we walked out of the station.

We walked far away from that station and eventually we sat down on bench next to a park to talk about the situation.

"They won't believe us. I can't believe they won't listen to us! What are we going to do?" Lyra said tugging on my sweat shirt.

"I don't know Lyra, I don't know." I said looking down pondering about what we could possibly do.

"We have to do something. We can't ignore the fact that we saw Team Rocket." Lyra said worriedly.

"What can we do?" I said with doubt in my voice.

Lyra paused thinking of what to do but she couldn't. Her face took on a very concerned look; I could tell she was torn between doing the right thing and coming to terms with the fact that we couldn't do anything. I was about to tell her that maybe we should just forget about it but then a little girl with dark red hair that was up in pigtails and had green eyes walked up to us. She looked very distraught and on the verge of crying.

"Did you*sniff* say that… that *sniff* you saw Team Rocket?" the little girl said to us with tears starting to form in her eyes.

"Oh my god, are you okay sweetie?" Lyra said walking over to her trying to comfort her.

"Did she say Team Rocket?" I said getting up as well.

"*sniff* I… I...*sniff* I don't know what to do*sniff* you have to help me p... p... please *sniff* they... they... won't believe me." said the little girl who started to cry.

"Whoa calm down what's wrong?" Lyra said as she kneeled down and placed her hands on the girls shoulders to try and calm her down.

"My grandpa *sniff* they took my grandpa*sniff* Team R…Rocket. I told the police but they won't believe me!" said the girl balling her eyes out.

"They took her Grandpa!" I said in shock.

"They took him because he knew about them. And... and... and *sniff* please you have to help me you're the only ones who'll believe me!" said the poor distraught girl looking up at me.

I couldn't believe it, Team Rocket had taken this girl's grandpa, and now the police won't do anything cause they think she's faking it. I gritted my teeth and clenched my fist in anger. There was no doubt about it, I had to do something.

"Where did you say they were?" I said in a stern voice.

Lyra turned and looked at me like she was confused to see me so stern.

"They… they're… in the Slowpoke Well *sniff* my grandpa saw them taking slowpoke from there *sniff*."

"Gold what are you thinking?" Lyra said concerned.

"I'm going to get her grandpa back." I said as I turned and started walking.

"What are you crazy?!" Lyra said jumping to her feet and grabbing my hand.

"I have too; no one else is going too." I said turning to face Lyra who was shocked by my sudden desire to take action.

Lyra stared at me like she was seeing a completely different person. She took a moment to think and then hers eyes looked back at me with determination; she must've realized that we were the only ones that could help this girl.

"Fine. If you're going I'm coming with you." She said letting go of my hand.

"Good I'm going to need your help. Little girl can you take us to the well? We're going to get you grandpa back."

"You… you will?" the girl said looking up at me with hope in her tear filled eyes.

"You bet, you can count on us, now before we go can you tell us your name?" I said looking back at her.

"*sniff* my name is Maisy."

"Come on Maisy take us to the well, we'll handle it from there." I said holding up my fist.

She stood there for moment holding back her tears knowing that someone was going to help her.

She quickly wiped away her tears and said, "Thank you, it's this way quickly!"

She ran off with us following her towards the edge of town. She brought us to a large well that was in the middle of a field outside of the town. It was roughly 4 feet tall with a 5 foot diameter and it was constructed out of cobble stone. I looked into it and saw a ladder that lead to the bottom. There was no doubt some has been here recently, if only those cops would listen.

"Maisy I need you to go back home, okay." I said to her as I turned away from the well.

"Okay, you'll come back won't you?" she said looking up at me.

"Don't worry Maisy, Gold is a strong trainer he won't let you down." said Lyra kneeling down to look at Maisy.

"Alright let's go Lyra, Maisy we'll be back soon with your grandpa, I promise." I said walking over to the well's ladder.

"Right behind you, Maisy it's time for you to go okay." Lyra said to Maisy before she stood up.

"*sniff* be careful, please get him back!" Maisy said before she ran back into town.

I went down the ladder first with Lyra following. It was a deep well and we climbed down some 40 feet or so before we reached the opening of a large cave.

"Alright we have to be stealthy so no glow sticks." I said to Lyra who was just getting off the ladder.

"But how are we going to see?"

"Don't worry Merlin can see in the dark he'll guide us." I said as I tossed Merlin's pokeball.

The Hoothoot once fully formed took his place on my shoulder.

"Merlin we need you to be our eyes." I said to my feathered friend.

Merlin tilted his head, acknowledging my request and then turned his head to face which way we should go. Lyra stayed close so I could guide her as Merlin helped us navigate various twists and turns of the cave system by facing the direction we should head. Eventually we could see light around the next bend.

"Alright this must be where they are I'll check this corner gimme a sec." I whispered to Lyra as I quietly moved to the corner of the cave.

I poked my head around the corner and saw very large and well lit portion of cave with several tables scattered about as well as cages filled with what I could only guess was Slowpokes. There were at least four mean dressed in black with the Rocket logo on their chests. Unfortunately I couldn't see anyone that could possibly be Maisy's grandpa.

I couldn't believe what I was getting myself into, since when was I the heroic type? Why was I so determined to save this girl's grandpa? It didn't matter, I was doing the right thing, no one else was going to help her, it had to be me. But if I was going to do this Lyra and I would need a plan.

I walked back to Lyra and whispered, "Okay there four men in the other room, but I could see a hall leading to another room so there'll probably be more."

"So what are we going to do?"

"If anything I'm guessing these goons have pokemon on them, but with only Nile and Merlin being our strongest fighters they would quickly tire out if we had to fight all of them. So if we can avoid it we should try to use hypnosis on them."

"But Gold, if Merlin just flies in there he won't have a clear shot at any of them. They'll bring out their pokemon before he could knock out any of them." Lyra said concerned for Merlin.

"Crap your right…wait. What if we used Teeka as a distraction? I mean almost no one can lay a finger on her when she wants to. They'll be focused on her giving Merlin the time to use hypnosis." I said cunningly.

"Sounds good, I'll get Teeka out**.**" Lyra said quietly releasing her Marreep from its pokeball.

Teeka looked up at Lyra who told her our plan. Teeka giggled at the thought of distracting people.

Teeka skipped to the corner of the room with Lyra and I following behind. We both looked around the corner to see the other room.

"Ready when you are Gold." said Lyra.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8: Vs Team Rocket

Man this is either my greatest act of kindness, or the single worst idea I have ever had. Why am I doing this? I would never in million years think that I would be rescuing someone from a crime organization like Team Rocket.

I continued to question my own sanity as Lyra and I stayed behind the corner and watched Teeka skip merrily out into the room with all those Rocket thugs. If everything went according to plan then Teeka should be able distract them long enough for Merlin to take them out. God I hope this works.

One of the goons noticed the Mareep and said "Hey, what do we have here? Looks like we got another pokemon to capture boys."

The rest of the goons in the room looked towards Teeka and eyed her up; I could tell that they were probably thinking about how much they could sell her for if they caught her. The one who noticed her in the first place walked towards the electric sheep. Teeka stuck her tongue out at the man and skipped to the underside of a nearby table. The man then tried to grab her but missed and banged his head against the table.

"Arrgh, we have feisty one here. Don't just stand there you morons, help me out here!" said the man as the rest of the goons gathered around the table to try and catch the seemingly harmless Mareep.

Seeing that they were all distracted I motioned to Merlin to let him know that he was up next. The Hoothoot nodded to me and quietly flew into the room unnoticed by the Team Rocket grunts. Teeka spotting Merlin scurried about the room and herded all the goons into a tight group.

"Surprise." I whispered to myself as Merlin landed on a nearby table with his talons tapping against the metal.

One of the grunts noticing the round owl turned and said "What the hell?"

Before the rest of the goons could look at what he saw Merlin unfurled his wings and unleashed a wave of spiraling light that engulfed the men. They all quickly fell to the ground and Lyra breathed a sigh of relief.

"Good job Merlin." I said as I walked into the room with Lyra following me.

Merlin flew over to my shoulder and Teeka ran over to Lyra. I was impressed that my plan worked. As I walked into the room I saw something odd on a nearby table. I looked over to it and saw what looked like the severed bloody tails of Slowpokes.

"Oh god, are those?" Lyra said as she cringed at the bloody sight.

"Yeah they are." I said as I held back my stomach from hurling.

"These people are sick! Why would they do that to innocent pokemon?" Lyra exclaimed with an upset face as she looked away from the pile of tails.

"Ughh, I think they do it in order to sell them or something." I said as I looked towards one of the cages that held the remaining Slowpokes at the other side of the room.

"Gold we have to set these Slowpokes free before they do the same to these guys." said Lyra running up to the door of one the three cages as she tried to open it to no avail.

"Maybe one of these guys has a key?" I said as I kneeled over one of the passed out grunts.

We searched each of them but we couldn't find a key or anything that could open the cage.

"Gold, what are we going to do? They don't have any keys." said Lyra concerned for the Slowpoke.

"We should keep going till we..." I said but then I heard a voice from the other end of the room.

"Over here! I knew I heard something!" said a Rocket grunt that was standing in the hallway that led to the other rooms

"Shit!" I exclaimed reaching for Nile's pokeball as Lyra turned towards the man at the end of the room.

Two men quickly entered the room behind the one that spotted us. One of them had a very bulky build while the other was shorter and had long blonde hair. They both had three red stripes on their left shoulders; I could only guess that meant that they were a higher rank or something.

"What just two kids?" said the bulky one who was clearly confused to see four men lying unconscious on the floor.

"And they have pokemon with them." said the shorter one who readied a pokeball along with his companion.

This was bad, I knew I could probably take these two, but I had no idea how many more would show up. Nile and Merlin, even with Teeka's help, couldn't possibly take on all the people who might be in these caves.

"Nile let's go!" I said with false confidence hoping not to show my fear.

Nile burst forth in flash of light and hissed at the three goons. Merlin took off from my shoulder and readied himself for a fight.

"Tell Proton not to worry, this will be quick." said the larger Rocket grunt who motioned for the one who spotted us to leave.

Then he and the other goon let loose an Ekans and a Zubat into the room. The Ekans coiled up on the floor and then raising its head it sized up Nile. Nile returned the serpent's gaze with a growl as snake slithered its way over to him. Meanwhile the Zubat soared towards Merlin.

"Teeka use thundershock!" exclaimed Lyra pointing at the bat.

"Nile use bite and Merlin help Teeka!" I ordered as the trio carried out our commands.

Teeka's wool sparked as its tail bulb lit up and fired a bolt of electricity that arced across the air towards the Zubat. Unfortunately the Zubat banked to the side and avoided the attack. Merlin in quick response dove in towards the bat and tried to peck at it. The Zubat then countered his attack as it slashed its poisoned fangs into Merlins back as he flew past it.

"Ekans use constrict and follow up with a poison sting!" yelled the larger grunt as his snake reached Nile.

The snake reared back as Nile tried to sink his teeth into the serpent. It then quickly coiled its self around Nile and squeezed tight. Nile gagged as the air in his lungs was being crushed out of him. The Ekans then reared its head up hissing loudly as it bared its fangs.

"Nile! Look out, it's about to bite you!" I yelled trying to warn him.

Nile quickly grabbed the snake just below the head and stopped it from striking.

"Good, now throw him off and use water gun!" I said.

Nile then, using all his strength, pried himself out of the snake's coils. Once free he then chucked the serpent off him and shot a jet of water from his mouth towards the tumbling Ekans. The already dazed snake was sent flying as the water smashed into its body. It was then flung against the leg of a nearby table. Nile then dashed forward with great speed towards his foe. The snake lifting its head up was greeted to a welcoming fist to the face as Nile knocked it out cold.

Meanwhile Melrin was having trouble keeping up with the Zubat that was practically flying circles around him while Teeka was struggling to aim her attacks.

"Merlin use hypnosis, slowdown that Zubat!" I said.

"And Teeka finish it with thundershock!" said Lyra who was clearly in sync with my thought process.

Merlin's eyes glowed as he sent out a wave of spiraling light towards the Zubat which grazed it in midflight. Although not put to sleep, the Zubat was obviously struggling to fly straight and slowed down considerably. Teeka saw the opportunity and discharged her electrical power on the Zubat who quickly fell to the ground unconscious.

The two men at the other end of the room were shocked at how quickly we dispatched their pokemon.

"Why you little brats, you made me look like a fool!" said the bulky grunt who tried to run up and hit me.

He was quickly knocked backwards by Nile who shot his water gun at the man's face. The other man jumped back to avoid being knocked over by his partner.

"Tell me where Maisy's grandpa is now!" I yelled angrily at the two men.

The bulky one was unconscious so the other one looked up at me.

"Kid you've got no idea who you're dealing with, there's more of us here!" retorted the other man.

"But apparently my two best out of all of them couldn't even handle two kids." said a rather calm voice of some other person that came from behind the two goons.

I looked past the grunts and saw a tall man that was wearing the same get up as the others but his boots and gloves were white with orange stripes at the edges. Under his hat I saw that he had green hair and his eyes were green too. He walked like he owned the place with his hands hanging off the edges of his white belt.

"Proton, what are you doing here?" said the conscious grunt looking like he was afraid of something.

This guy was Proton? Why did this goon seem so afraid of him he doesn't look that tough.

"Oh not much really, I heard that two kids had the guts to take on several of our men and I thought it might be interesting to see what all the fuss was about," said Proton in a calm voice as he walked over to entrance of the room cracking his knuckles.

"I'll be honest though, I never expected to see a bunch of grown men losing to little twats." said Proton in mocking voice.

"But…" said the grunt who was cut short as Proton abruptly punched the man straight in the jaw.

Lyra and I both jumped back when Proton suddenly attacked his own men. I cringed at the sound that came from that man's jaw.

"Apparently fending off two kids was too much to ask of you!" said Proton angrily.

The way this guy went from such a calm composure to this violent outburst was unsettling.

"Which brings us now to the center of the problem," said Proton switching back to his calm voice as he turned to face me.

"I have to admit you two have guts to come here." He then paused as he looked at both of us accessing the situation.

His face had this eerie smirk on it and his eyes stared at us with a calm and cool composure that seemed to hide his true anger.

"Oh what do we have here? What a lovely young girl you have with you. Mmmmm she's just my type." he said eyeing up Lyra creepily.

I saw Lyra's eyes widen and her face cringe as she quickly dashed behind me.

"Stop staring at me you creep!" Lyra yelled as she peered to the side of me.

"And she's feisty too. I think I'll have some fun with you privately when I'm done here." Proton said as he chuckled to himself crossing his arms behind him.

Lyra tensed up and she grabbed hold of my arm looking away from this freak. What the hell was this guy's deal? He went from such a calm collected composure to straight up knocking someone out, and now this! This guy was some kind of bipolar pervert.

"Hey asshole! Stop being a freak and tell me where you're keeping Maisy's grandfather!" I said in a stern voice.

"Hmph, kid you're in no position to make demands, but I like your tenacity and I'm in a sporting mood." said Proton as his grabbed a pokeball from his waist belt.

"If you were able to beat my top two slobs, then sending the rest of my men at you would be pointless. The only one here who could fight you at this point is me,"

His eyes then shot open like something violent just snapped into his head.

"I'd like to see you stand tall after my Golbat rips you in half!" he said in crazed tone as he tossed a pokeball.

The following flash of light revealed a massive bat like creature with a large gapping mouth. It looked over at us and shrieked in a high pitched tone as it took to the air.

"Golbat have at it! But leave the girl, I want her for later." said Proton as he pointed straight me with his crazed eyes.

The massive bat flew straight at me at incredible speed. Merlin tried to intercept the bat, but the Golbat quickly stopped and smashed the Hoothoot to the side with its large leathery wings.

"Merlin!" I shrieked as I saw him get flung out of the air.

The Golbat then landed on a table and turned towards me and Lyra. It was about to kick off towards us when Nile jumped up and clamped his jaws on the bat's leg. The bat tried to kick the reptile off but he refused to let go as he clamped down harder.

"Golbat use leech life!" ordered Proton.

The bat then violently jabbed the tip of one of its wings into Niles back. Niles eyes shot wide open in pain as a strange green aura started to leave his body and crawl up the Golbat's wing and into its body. Nile's eyes slowly grew weaker and then he released his hold and fell off the table.

"Nile no! Teeka use Thudershock!" Lyra yelled as her Mareep ran forward to shock the bat senseless.

The bat was struck by the static attacks but it looked almost unfazed.

"Golbat use razor wind!" yelled Proton.

The bat flew up and faced Teeka and began flapping its wings sporadically. Then hundreds of razor thin air discs were shot towards Teeka. Like razor blades they cut up Teeka and knocked her out cold.

"Teeka!" Lyra shrieked in horror.

I looked to my side and saw Merlin was back in the air and Nile was getting back on his feet.

"Merlin use hypnosis and Nile take that bat out!" I said desperately hoping they could do it.

The Golbat looked up towards the owl pokemon as Merlin readied his attack. The bat tried to move to the side but then Nile jumping from a table clamped his jaws down on one of the Golbat's wings dragging it to the ground.

"Golbat move you fool!" yelled Proton angrily.

The massive bat tried to shake the blue reptile loose, but Nile would not let go and the hypnosis hit the massive bat. Nile then saw his chance and unleashed gouts of pressurized water that sent the Golbat flying against the wall. The Golbat was knocked out cold from the duo's attacks.

With the bat taken out Lyra then dashed over towards her electric sheep as I looked back towards Proton. He just stood there dumbfounded by what our pokemon did.

"Why you little…" said Proton as he clenched his fists.

He looked like he was about to snap when Nile, with what little strength he had, quickly dashed between me and him to protect me from whatever this freak might do. I then noticed about ten or twelve members of Team Rocket had gathered behind Proton in the hallway that led to this room.

"Holy shit! That kid just beat Proton!" said one of the grunts.

"Did you see what that Totodile did to his pokemon?! Screw that man I'm out of here!" uttered another one of the goons.

The rest of them all mumbled to themselves about what just happed as several of them ran away. Proton looked enraged as he turned to see his men leaving.

"Don't run away, it's just a bunch of kids!" roared Proton as his men stopped in their tracks.

"Really, you sure you want to stick around?" I said trying to sound brave seeing my only chance to end all of this.

"My Totodile hasn't even gotten started yet! You really want to stick around and find out what he'll do to you?" I said trying to play off that fear I knew some of them had.

What the hell was I doing? Since when do I act tough and make threats? I just started saying things without really thinking, but why? I knew Nile couldn't fight any more, he was at his limit. Oh god if they saw through my bluff we were screwed.

"Fuck that man, I'm out of here!" yelled one of the grunts as the rest of them ran away.

Proton looked like when was about to bust a circuit as he turned to me with hate in his eyes while his men ran away. Nile then roared loudly as if he was trying back up my claim and make Proton leave. Proton tensed up for moment, as if he too was falling for my bluff. He then gathered his composure and looked back at us with a calm look.

"Well aren't you two are getting off lucky today." he said as he gritted his teeth looking back at us.

"Well it doesn't matter anyway you can have the slowpoke and that old geezer back, we don't need them anyway, you can find him in the back if you're so inclined to find him."

He then turned and calmly walked away into the caves.

I feared there was some sort of trick so I refused to move from my spot until I was sure they were all gone for good. After a few minutes we could no longer here footsteps from the cave system and Nile then collapsed to the ground exhausted.

"Gold I can't believe it, you actually defeated them." said Lyra cradling her Mareep.

"I know I can't believe it either. Thank god they fell for my bluff." I said in disbelief.

"Quickly we have to find Maisy's grandfather." I said as I returned both Merlin and Nile.

We entered the other room which was empty with only a few tables remaining. Over in the corner tied up was an old man.

"Lyra look, its Maisy's grandpa!" I said pointing towards him as Lyra looked to where I pointed.

We quickly dashed over to him and untied him.

With his gag removed the old man said, "Thank you for rescuing me, but how did you know I was here?"

"Your granddaughter Maisy sent us to get you because the police wouldn't believe her." said Lyra.

"My granddaughter? Where is my granddaughter now? Is she alright!" exclaimed the old man.

"Don't worry she's at home now." I said

"Oh thank god my granddaughter is safe, what about the Slowpoke?" he said.

"They're currently in a few cages in the other room, but we don't have a key." said Lyra.

"Actually Lyra I have plan for that."

"You do?" She said looking at me with a confused look.

"Yeah let's just say I'm going to get some pay back." I said smirking.

"I'll explain later, but sir do you have a name?" I said to the old man.

"My name is Kurt."

"I'm Lyra and this is Gold." Lyra said introducing us to him.

"Well thank you both for helping me out of here."

"No problem." I said.

Then with Kurt's help we went back to the cages and wheeled the Slowpokes through the caves. Each of us took one of the cages and seeing as we couldn't take them up the well we had to find the exit that Team Rocket probably used. When we got outside we found ourselves coming out the side of the hill on the outskirts of a meadow. I saw that the sun had gone down while we were in there and it was quite dark out. Thankfully we could see the town from where we were and the trip there wouldn't be very long. We then wheeled the cages through the town and over to the police station.

Lyra had a sly look on her face when walked in front of the station. She must've pieced together what I was going to do. When we got there an officer came out wondering what the hell was going on.

"Hey, what are you kids doing here with those!" said the officer as a Growlithe followed him out.

"Oh good, yeah can you do me a favor and get your sheriff for me? Tell him that his Slowpoke's were found." I said jeeringly to the officer as Lyra and Kurt held the cages.

Realizing what were in the cages behind me the officer then gave me a look of astonishment and he quickly dashed inside. Moments later he returned with that fat Sheriff from before.

"What the hell is going on out here, this had better be…." said the fat man as he looked at me and the cage.

He just stood there as he processed what was in front of him. His face was quite honestly the most priceless look of awe, shock, and dumbfoundment I have ever seen. I wish I had picture of it. I waited for him to take it all in before I said anything.

"So you'll never guess where I found these guys," I said in cocky voice with my arms crossed and smirking at that fat bastard who made Lyra nearly cry.

He stood there and he tried to mouth something but I could tell he was in a state of penitence.

"Funny story, you know that little girl who said that Team Rocket was in Slowpoke Well? I decided to go there and have a look myself, and guess what? Not only did I find her grandfather in there, but also these Slowpokes." I said as motioned towards Kurt and the Slowpoke.

I could hear Lyra behind me trying to contain her laughter as she saw the face of the Sheriff.

"How the hell did you…" the fat sheriff said before I cut him off again.

"Oh and don't worry Sheriff, I even got you a souvenir while I was in there." I said as I pulled out a Team Rocket hat from my bag and tossed it to him.

The Sheriff looked down at the hat and his face was so shocked that Lyra couldn't contain her laughter any more. He then looked back me and I returned his dumbfounded look with a smirk of revenge.

"Make sure you tell everyone who did your freaking job for you, and that's Gold in case you've forgotten." I said turning around as Lyra walked up to me giggling to herself.

"Oh and one more thing," I said turning around.

"You might want to get some bar cutters or something, cause I've honestly got no clue how to open these; couldn't find a key." I said before Lyra and I went on our way.

Kurt then walked to the officers and began to explain the situation as Lyra and I left the scene. Once we turned the corner and could no longer see the station Lyra said to me, "Did you see the look on that guys face?"

"I know, priceless." I said as I crossed my arms with a big grin on my face.

"But Gold can I ask you something?" she said turning to me.

"Um, sure what is it?" I said looking into her chocolate eyes.

"What made you do all this? I mean um, I don't want to sound rude but, I never thought of you as, well, you know. Cause I've never seen you act like this before."

I didn't know how to respond. I myself don't know why I took itupon myself to save Maisy's grandfather. Nor did I have any idea how I was able to stand strong in front of so many people. It kinda just, came to me, like some sort of instinct. I just stood there wondering how I could say that without sounding stupid.

"I uhh, I umm." I said nervously scratching the back of neck.

"If you don't know why that's okay, just know I'm glad that you did." she said smiling at me.

"Uh thanks." I said smiling back at her.

"Hey it's getting late we should probably find a hotel." she said as she started down the road at a brisk pace and motioned for me to follow her.

We eventually found a hotel and we checked in on the fifth floor. Once we got to the room I offered to take the couch again but Lyra insisted I sleep on the bed. We decided to rock, paper, scissors for the bed, I let her win. As I slumped down onto the couch I couldn't help but feel proud of myself and I was able to sleep easy that night knowing I did the right thing. I was awoken the next day with Lyra exclaiming something.

"Gold wake up! You won't believe this, we're on TV!" said Lyra dressed in her pajamas and shaking me to get me up.

"W... what?" I said as I rubbed my eyes and looked at the TV in our room.

"Here let me raise the volume." said Lyra who sat on the couch next to me and pointed the remote towards the TV.

There was a female news reporter with blue suit on and blonde hair on screen. She was standing in front of the police station where in the background I could see the police trying to open the last remaining cage with a pair of bar cutters.

"Good morning Azelea Town, we're reporting live in front of our town's police station where the mystery of the disappearing Slowpokes has just been solved. Last night two young trainers by the names of Gold and Lyra, found one of several cages that were full of our town's slowpoke as well as local resident Kurt in the caves that connect to Slowpoke Well."

The screen then cut to three photos of me, Lyra, and Kurt. The photos of me and Lyra I think were taken from one of the surveillance cameras in the police station while Kurt's was probably his ID photo.

"According to the two trainers the culprits responsible for the disappearance of our Slowpokes were members of the long thought disbanded crime organization, Team Rocket."

"I can't believe it; we made the news." I said in disbelief.

"We did it Gold, we got the news out that Team Rocket is still at large!" Lyra said as she looked at me with joy in her eyes.

"Well, I'm glad that's over with, I hope we never have to see them again."

"Or that Proton creep." Lyra shuddered.

I could tell she was thinking about what he might've done to her if he had beaten me and I could tell it wasn't pleasant.

"Well it's all over now, don't worry about that guy." I said placing my hand on her shoulder.

"Yeah you're right." Lyra said as she sighed to herself.

"So let's forget about all this and focus on why we came here." I said taking my hand off her shoulder.

Lyra nodded to me as I got up from the couch.

"I'm going to take a shower before we head out." I said as I pulled off my shirt and walked towards the bathroom.

As I turned to close the door I caught a glimpse of something odd. For a second I thought I saw Lyra looking at me in a funny way before she quickly looked away at the TV when I turned to face her.

Did she just check me out?

I didn't think that much about it because I was probably wrong; I'm never right when it comes to reading Lyra's body language. She usually does things like that to screw with me.

I undressed and got the water started. While I waited for it to heat up I looked at myself in the mirror and noticed that some of the bruises I got from the Spearow were still on my back. I stood there for few moments when it hit me. Shit! Lyra just saw that! Oh god when I'm finished with my shower I'm going to feel her wrath.

After cursing myself for being stupid enough to show my bruised back I tried to enjoy what little peace I was going to get, before Lyra threw her hissy fit. So I got into the shower and closed the curtain hoping that me being in the shower would be enough of a deterrent to keep Lyra at bay for awhile. I have to say though; it was nice to take a shower considering I haven't taken one since we left Violet City. I ran my fingers through my dark blue hair and enjoyed the warm water while I could, but then I heard the door to the bathroom open. Oh crap its Lyra.

"Um, kinda taking a shower here." I said hoping she would leave.

"Why didn't you tell me about your back?" Lyra said on the other side of the curtain in a tone that conveyed both irritation and concern.

Of all the times we could be having this discussion why did it have to be when I was taking a shower?

"I um, I uh, ehhhh…*sigh*…I didn't want you to worry about me." I said realizing there was no other way out of this.

"I'm sorry." I added

There was pause as I wondered what her face was like on the other side of the curtain. God I hope she wasn't too upset at me.

"Gold I thought I was your friend, why did you have to lie to me?" she said in concerned voice.

"I'm sorry, I told you that it's because I didn't want you to worry about me; I hate seeing you upset over me."

"Well I'm pretty upset now thanks to you!" she said as I heard her stamp her foot.

"Lyra, I'm sorry I lied to you, please forgive me."

There was another pause and each second that passed I felt worse and worse about lying to her.

"Fine," she said in a rather pouty tone breaking the silence.

"I'll forgive you on one condition."

"Sure, what is it, I'll do anything." I said bracing myself for what I might have to do.

"Anything?"

"Yes anything just please forgive me."

Once again there was another pause. This was one was lasting longer than the last one and I was half tempted to pull the curtain back to see if she was still there, but didn't for obvious reasons.

"Okay if you want me to forgive you then you have to do something for me." She said breaking the silence.

"I'll do whatever you want."

"Okay then, I'm curious about a certain type advantage among pokemon, and I need you to help me out with an experiment." She said in rather cheerful tone with a hint of her sly voice in there.

I stood there confused, wasn't she just pissed off at me a second ago? Why was she so happy all of sudden?

"Um sure, I'll help you once I'm finished in here alright. I'll be done in a minute so can you please leave, I'd like my privacy, when you know, I'm in the shower." I said as I went back to shampooing my hair.

"Oh don't worry, in fact I need you to be in there for this." she said giggling.

"Lyra what are you talking about? What are you going to do?"

"Gold you're all wet in there, right?" she said in her sly voice.

"Uh yeah of course I'm wet, that's kinda the whole point of a shower you know. What kind of stupid question is that?" I said in an irritated tone wishing she would leave already.

"Oh I was just checking to make sure." she said as I heard a cute little meeping sound come from the other side of the shower curtain.

I stood there for a second wondering what that sound was.

"Lyra, is that… is that Teeka with you?" I said looking at the curtain that separated us.

"May-be." Lyra said in that playful voice of hers.

"Why do you have…?" I paused.

Wait a second, she has Teeka with her, I'm currently wet, and she wants to know something about type advantages? What was she…? OH GOD NO! I quickly slumped against the wall of the shower to get as far away from the curtain as I possibly could.

"Lyra, this isn't funny." I said panicking knowing what she was about to do.

"What's the matter Gold? You scared of a little electricity? You said you'd do anything for my forgiveness and this is it." she said slyly.

"Whoa, whoa, come on now let's be reasonable here." I said trying to get her to stop.

"*giggle* Gold this is what you get for lying to me.*giggle*" Lyra said playfully as I saw her hands lift her Mareep over the shower curtain.

Thanks to what happened next I had to spend about ten or so minutes after my shower getting my hair to stop standing up, as well as the tingling sensation.

When I stepped out of the bathroom dressed Lyra laughed at me from her couch and said, "Okay, now I forgive you.*giggle*"

I gave her a distasteful look which only made her laugh more. She then got up and took her shower. I gathered my things and I even organized Lyra's stuff too; why I did that for her I don't know, I guess I like her too much to hold a grudge. Once Lyra got dressed we went outside the hotel, grabbing a map along the way.

"So what's first on today's list." she asked.

"Well let's go to the pokemon center and get everyone checked out." I said pulling out the town map.

"Are you going to take on the gym later today?" she inquired eager to see if I would say yes.

"Well I did just single handedly scare off a major crime organization, so yeah I think I can take Bugsy on." I said smirking.

"Well aren't you the cocky one. Be careful or you might find your next shower to be rather electrifying." Lyra said in her patented sly voice.

"I'm not cocky! And that wasn't funny!" I retorted as Lyra giggled

"I'm starting to think that nickname of yours is going to your head." she said laughing.

"And I'm starting to think your idea of revenge is way too violent."

"And that's the story of how Gold learned his lesson in telling the truth to his best friend." she said as if she was reciting some children's book with moral lesson.

I sighed knowing that I was getting nowhere talking to her.

"Well anyway, you have a plan for fighting Bugsy?" she said shifting the topic.

Glad to hear that Lyra was no longer trying to make a fool out of me I said, "Well, it's roughly the same as before, Merlin will be up first to take advantage of his flying type against the bugs with Nile up after him to finish whatever he can't."

"What are you going to do about that Scyther you talked about earlier? It sounds tough." she inquired.

"I'm not too worried, bugs might have high attack power, but most of them can't take a hit. Nile just has to land a few blows and down goes the Scyther."

"If you say so." She said as we found the pokemon center.

We walked in and noticed a few trainers in there chatting among themselves, two of them were girls and the other three were guys. As we walked up to drop off our pokeballs to the nurse's one of trainers looked over at me.

"Hey it's that kid from the news guys." said a trainer who was wearing a yellow striped jacket.

"Wait you mean that's Gold? The kid who fought Team Rocket?" said one of the girls who was wearing pink skirt and a black shirt with long curly red head.

"Yeah that's defiantly him. Hey Gold!"

I turned to the trainers not exactly thrilled that they recognized me. I'm not that much of social guy, I mean besides my pokemon Lyra was practically my only friend. I guess this is what I get for telling the police to pretty much advertise my name in shinning lights. Lyra on the other hand seemed like she was more than happy to be recognized.

"Um hi, yeah that's me." I said trying not to sound nervous but failing.

The rest of the trainers all turned to look at me.

"So did you really fight Team Rocket?" one of them asked.

"Um yeah, I did. I was pretty surprised too, you know because I was shocked when I found out that they were still around, you know." I said scratching the back of neck, the thing I always do when I'm nervous.

"You should've seen him, he took on like five guys at once!" said Lyra.

"Uh, yeah, I guess you could say I did that, but um, it wasn't like…" I said timidly before one the kids interrupted me.

"Whoa really that's cool! Five guys at once!"

"Uh yeah I guess you could say that." I said scratching the back of my neck again.

One of the other girls walked up from her table and over to me. She was skinny and roughly the same height as Lyra. Her hair was sky blue and she wore it in a similar fashion that Lyra wore hers. Her eyes were light blue and she wore black and gold sport shorts, a red shirt and white vest like jacket over that.

"Hi Gold, it's nice to meet you, my name is Crystal, but you can call me Kris." The girl said as she held out her hand to shake.

"Um hi." I said as I hesitantly returned her hand shake.

"I have to say it's impressive what you did." She said.

"Uh, thanks."

"Gold and Lyra, your pokemon are good to go." said one of the nurses at the other end room.

I mentally breathed a sigh of relief that I finally had an excuse to stop talking to this girl along with the other trainers.

"Gold that's us let's get our pokemon." Lyra said grabbing my hand and taking me back to the desk.

"Sure thing." I said.

We gathered our pokeballs and we made our way out of the center.

"Hope I get to meet you two again." said Kris as we left the center.

Lyra and I walked down the street as we started to make our way towards the gym.

"Looks like you're going to get a lot of attention from now on Gold." Lyra said laughing.

"*Sigh* I guess you're right, uggh, I never really liked talking to other kids that much, I mean other than you." I said as I shrugged.

"Oh don't worry about it. Come on I can't wait to see you fight Bugsy." she said excitedly.

* * *

**Well considering that I actually now have people who like my story, I'll try to start releasing chapters at regular Intervals, emphasis on "Try to", maybe once a week or twice if I feel up for it. Its so nice to have people like what you do. Thats the best form of art when people do it for the enjoyment of others.**

**Anyway hope you like it and I'm always editing my stuff to make it better. (I hate going back and seeing such stupid mistakes. I can't believe I freaking leave bold text in some places! *face palm*)**


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9: It Evolved!?

The gym we entered was like a museum; it was wide and open, the walls were painted green and were lined with cases full of interesting insects of all shapes, sizes, and colors. In the center of the room were long isles filled with more display cases. There were several people visiting the place which further cemented the fact that this gym was a museum part time. Under some of the cases were labels explaining where some of the bugs came from and what they were.

"Hey Gold check this out! The bugs over here are from New Bark." exclaimed Lyra as I walked over to the cases she was looking at.

I looked at what was inside and wasn't that surprised, most of the bugs in there I'd seen before and were pretty normal looking. But then there was one I never saw before; it was slender and was roughly five inches long, its main body looked like a dead leaf. On its front legs were a pair of nasty looking pincers that were bright red like they were dipped in blood or something. It had a freaky looking proboscis that ended in a tiny claw that was also highlighted in red. It had pale brown eyes that had a dot in the center that seemed to follow you like the eyes of a praying mantis; giving off the impression it was still alive.

"Man, that thing is freaky with a capital F." said Lyra as she stuck out her tongue in disgust.

"Wait that thing lives in New Bark!" I said thinking about how glad I was that I never saw one before, but also a little disturbed knowing that it lived there.

"Ughh, okay let's go find the gym leader before I further ruin my image of New Bark." said Lyra as she walked away from the display case with me following her.

We walked up and down rows and rows of bugs in our attempt to hunt Bugsy down. I figured he'd be out lecturing someone on insects cause that's what I heard he does all the time. As we scoured the museum we saw many more freaky looking bugs that I swear came straight out of the science fiction novels I used to read. Every so often I would hear Lyra utter some rather unsettling noises at the sight of some of the bugs.

"Man these bugs are just freaky I swear that *Gasp*" said Lyra before she stopped dead in her tracks.

I was glancing at some weird wasp looking thing while I was walking and didn't notice that she had stopped. When I turned to look in front of me I nearly ran into her. I had to abruptly step to the side to avoid knocking her over, almost falling myself.

"Whoa Lyra don't just stop like that when we're walking, I nearly knocked you over." I said looking over to where she was staring.

It was then that I saw what made Lyra stop in her tracks. At the other end of the isle was a very large spider like pokemon that had a red and black body and legs that were covered with yellow and purple markings. It was carrying a display case full of bugs on its abdomen and it was crawling towards us. It scurried along on its creepy looking legs and stopped about five feet ahead of us and crawled up one of the shelves. It then grabbed another display case that was there and swapped it with the one on its back. It then descended the shelves and crawled right past us.

"Okay… and apparently the staff here is entirely comprised of bug pokemon." I said a bit creeped out.

"Gee, that's not creepy at all. Ugh I hate spiders." Lyra said a little dazed by what she saw.

"Man this Bugsy guy has a pretty sweet thing going here. I've always sorta wanted a legion of spiders to carry out my will." I said crossing my arms looking at the spider pokemon who continued to organize the display cases.

"You're such a nerd you know that." Lyra said giving me a sly look.

"Oh, big talk coming from the girl who begged me to read her my science fiction novels on the weekends." I said smirking back at her.

"Hey, I only asked you to do that for me because you would always use those funny voices when you read those stories to me. It's not like I actually understood anything that was happening in those stories." she said in a pouty tone looking up at me.

I noticed that her face was looking a little embarrassed. I think this was going to be one of those rare occasions where I had the upper hand in our discussions.

"Oh you mean like this?" I said jeeringly as I cleared my throat.

"Ehh Gat! Impossible! The spiders, they have grown to; massive proportions. The radiation must of caused a, a, a DNA memory relapse. Causing them to revert to their; *gasp* their prehistoric forms." I said in my patented crazy scientist voice; that sounded kind of like a poor impression of William Shatner.

Back when Lyra and I were kids, which we still pretty much are, I was able to make her crack up all the time whenever I used that voice. Even now I could see Lyra snickering a bit, but she was trying to hide it.

"Stop that, I'm not ten anymore." She said as her face grew more embarrassed.

I was having too much fun to stop now. Five years may have passed since I met her, but she hasn't changed a bit. This must be what Lyra feels like whenever she makes a fool out of me. I can see why she loves doing it.

"My god…" I said as I pretended to take off a pair of glasses.

"Quickly, young damsel in distress; allow me to… oh no, they've got you!" I said as I moved my hand down Lyra's back mimicking the motion of a spider.

She suddenly arched her back as she let out a quiet yelp at the sudden movement down her back.

"Ah, don't do that!" She said as she lightly punched me in the side.

I pulled my hand away and laughed as she gave me a pouty look.

"Don't do that in a place like this, I don't like spiders." She said crossing her arms.

I could tell by the look on her face that she was both embarrassed and a bit mad as she looked up at me.

"*chuckle* you're so cute when you're mad. You look like an angry ten year old." I said chuckling.

She responded by forcefully pulling my hat down over my eyes and saying in a pouty tone, "I'm not a ten year old, I'm fifteen!"

Wow, I think I finally found one of the few buttons that drive Lyra crazy. For the longest time I thought she didn't have any and was pretty much impossible to annoy. I never would've guessed that being called a ten year old would cause a reaction like this from her. Maybe it's because she's a tad short and that's why it gets to her.

"Okay, okay, sorry I'll stop." I said readjusting my hat so that my hair hung to the side.

"Good, now that you're done being a nerd, can we please find Bugsy already." said Lyra with her arms still crossed as she started to walk again.

I promptly followed her and started to look around again for anywhere a gym leader would most likely be. I scanned across the whole museum and I finally found something that might lead us to Bugsy.

"Hey look over there, that sign says Conservatory and Battlefield." I said pointing towards a sign that hung over a doorway at the other end of the museum.

"Oh, maybe Bugsy is in there? Let's check it out." Lyra said without that pouty tone from before.

We cut across the large room and walked up to the glass doors, through which we could see that the other room was like a large scale terrarium. When we walked in and the first thing I noticed was a sudden wave of heat and humidity as well as the smell of wet wood.

"Whoa that's hot." I said as I felt sweat start to bead down my back.

"It's like a sauna in here." said Lyra.

I looked around and noticed that this place was kind of similar to Falkner's gym, except instead of a forest this place looked like a dense jungle. Though rather than having large windows around the perimeter the place was completely walled in. I had no idea how large this indoor jungle was. Because everywhere I looked I saw trees and vines that obstructed my view of the whole room. I looked up into the canopy and noticed rows of lights that hung from the ceiling along with some sort of complex sprinkler system. There were all sorts of insects and bug pokemon crawling around the place too.

"Well I hope Bugsy is in here." I said as Lyra and I made our way down a thin path.

As I walked I was suddenly startled by a pokemon that abruptly zoomed past my face and made me jump back a bit.

"What was that!" said Lyra turning to the side trying to see what flew by.

It was very fast and I only caught a glimpse of it, but it was defiantly red and looked like some kind of dragon fly. I was about to say something to Lyra, but then I heard something crashing through the ferns to my side.

"Gotcha now!" said the voice of what sounded like a kid.

The next thing I knew I saw net come down over my face which made me flinch. I turned to see where it came from and saw a long poll attached to the net that lead back to a kid who was holding it. Lyra noticing the commotion turned to see what was going on. She promptly laughed at what had happened to me.

"Woops, sorry about that." said the kid in an apologetic tone lifting the net off my head.

This kid was surprisingly short, shorter than even Lyra by a few inches. His hair was a pale purple and shaggy. His clothes were green, and looked like some sort of safari get up. I could tell this kid had been in here for a while cause his face and legs had a few smudges on them.

"Oh uh, don't worry about it, no harm done." I said as I readjusted my hat.

"Sorry, I was trying to catch that Yanma that flew by, and I saw your red sweat shirt and thought you were him by mistake." said the kid as he looked side to side looking for his Yanma.

"So that thing was a Yanma?" inquired Lyra.

"Yup, they're ridiculously fast dragonflies. He's my favorite bug to catch in here." said the kid.

"That sounds cool. Oh hey, have you seen Bugsy in here by any chance?" I asked.

"Oh that would be me." said the kid pointing his thumb at himself.

Wait this kid is Bugsy? I knew he was young but I thought he'd be, well, a bit taller.

"You're Bugsy?" said Lyra

"Yep they call me the walking bug encyclopedia." Bugsy said as he put his hand on his hip like his was proud of the title.

"I can see why, that museum of bugs you have out there is impressive." I said.

"Thanks, I caught them all myself. So how can I help you." he said leaning on his net's poll.

"Well my name is Gold, and I came here today to challenge you for your badge Bugsy." I said with determination.

"Oh so you're the one I heard about on the news, which probably means your Lyra right?" he said looking over to her.

"Yep that's me, nice to meet you." said Lyra.

"Well first off, I have to thank you both for helping this town with the missing Slowpoke. I never would've guessed that Team Rocket was responsible, I thought they were all long gone to be honest." said Bugsy as he lifted his net onto his shoulder.

"You don't have to thank us; we were just doing the right thing." I said with humility.

"Well, considering that you went up against Team Rocket that must mean you're a strong trainer then?"

"Um I guess you could say that." I said.

"Great!" Bugsy said as he promptly turned to run down the path we were on.

"Over here, this way to the battlefield!" he said excitedly turning as he ran.

"Wow this kid is full of energy." I said under my breath as me and Lyra quickly dashed down the path to follow the twelve year old.

At the end of the path we found an area that was probably the only open patch of grass in this entire room.

It was wide open with plenty of room for a battle. There were several vines that hung over the area that spanned from the trees that ran along the perimeter of the area. I could see many Metapods and Kakuna hanging in the nearby trees. They probably hung out there to enjoy the battles that take place here. As I observed the room there was one detail that caught my eye. There were large gashes imbedded into some of the trees, which looked like someone had taken a sword to them. They were probably made by Bugsy's Scyther.

Bugsy stood at the opposite end of the area and he looked eager to get started.

"Okay Gold, welcome to my gym. Here we will battle to see if you can beat my unbeatable team of Bug types!" he said proudly with his hands on his hips in triumphant pose.

"Oh he sounds tough, this is going to be good." said Lyra as she found a nearby bench to sit down on; she was clearly excited to see me fight.

"Alright Bugsy, I'm ready whenever you are." I said as I took off my sweat shirt due to the humidity; leaving me in my black tee shirt.

As I got Merlin's pokeball out I thought about what this Bugsy kid was capable of. I wasn't sure if I should be taking him seriously. I mean he's four years younger than me and way shorter, even though I am a bit tall for my age. Plus he's like a five year old boasting about how amazing he is. I had to remind myself that he's still a gym leader and you don't get that title by being weak.

I quickly felt my thoughts shift pace and started strategizing on how to best beat him. It's weird,(;) I've started to notice that whenever I have a fight my mind just somehow works better than usual. It's almost as if my personality shifts or something and I'm able to make more bold moves than I would normally.

"Alright then," Bugsy said smirking.

"Let's go Beedrill!" he said enthusiastically as he tossed a pokeball that unleashed a large hornet like creature with massive spikes for hands.

"Merlin you're up first." I said sending my Hoothoot into the fray.

Merlin, once fully formed, promptly tilted his head towards the wasp showing neither fear nor confidence. The Beedrill took off from the ground and hovered in place waiting for its trainer's command.

"Merlin use peck!" I instructed Merlin to get the battle underway.

Merlin kicked off the ground and zoomed in towards the hornet.

"Beedrill, dodge and use pin missile!" said Bugsy waving his net like band conductor.

The Beedrill with lightning fast reflexes dashed to the side as Merlin zipped past him. It then quickly turned to face the Hoothoot and pointed its massive drill like spikes at Merlin. The spikes began to glow as hundreds of needles were sent flying towards Merlin like a pair of machine guns.

Merlin, looking behind at the incoming stream of needles, quickly banked to the side and avoided the attack.

"Merlin quickly fly up and circle him before you try again!"

Merlin shot up into the air and began to fly around the edge of the tree line that surrounded the open pasture.

"Beedrill, shoot him down." said Bugsy once again pointing at Merlin with his net.

The Beedrill, who hovered over the center of the battlefield, quickly spun around and began to track the airborne pokemon. Its spikes glowed once more and a continuous stream of needles was shot at Merlin. Merlin continued to circle the Beedrill with a constant shower of needles followed him in his wake. It was like a fighter plane avoiding heavy machine gun fire.

Once the endless barrage of needles ended it looked like the Beedrill had to recuperate before it could use that attack again.

Seeing this opportunity I called out to Merlin, "Quickly he has to recharge, go and use peck!"

Merlin heeding to my command backed sharply and dove towards the large hornet.

"Beedrill charge him with poison jab." said Bugsy in that overly confident voice of his.

The Beedrill zoomed towards the incoming bird and reared its spikes back as the two closed in. When the two met in mid-flight the Beedrill lunged one of its spikes towards the Hoothoot. But Merlin rolled under the attack and pecked at the hornet's body. Thanks to Merlin's flying type I saw that his peck had caused the Beedrill to recoil backwards.

"Merlin don't let up, keep pecking!" I said thinking I had the upper hand.

"Yeah go Melrin!" Lyra hollered from her bench.

Merlin dashed forward and pecked again at the Beedrill, and once again the massive hornet recoiled back in the air. I could tell that the wasp pokemon was taking too much damage and one more peck would be enough to finish the Beedrill.

"Beedrill, use pin missile!" ordered Bugsy.

The Beedrill quickly crossed its spikes as they began to glow again. Then in one quick motion it unfolded its arms and pointed them towards Merlin who was already too close to avoid the attack. Merlin tried to stop but was too late; the Beedrill let loose a stream of needles into the bird.

"Merlin!" Lyra and I exclaimed as we saw Merlin take the barrage of pins.

Then I saw that Merlin wasn't stopping; in fact he continued to fly through the needles! I was shocked, I thought Merlin was done for, but he kept on flying through the insect's projectiles barely fazed. Once he reached his target he tackled the Beedrill out of the air ceasing the endless stream of pins. Merlin landed on the ground on one foot as the Beedrill collapsed into the grass in an exhausted heap.

"Wow, great job Merlin." I said congratulating my feathered friend.

I had forgotten that pin missile is a bug type move and because of that its attack power is cut in half when up against its natural predator the flying type. Merlin looked a little scratched up but he was ready to keep going.

"Beedrill you did a good job, now return." said Bugsy as he returned the Hornet to its pokeball.

Bugsy still had that smirk on his face though; almost as if he was of okay with losing one of his pokemon this early in the game. I was unsure if he was unaware of the clear advantage I had, or if he had some trick up his sleeve. He must have a lot of faith in that Sycther of his, but I knew that wasn't who he would send out next. He had one more pokemon before that because I know he uses three. I hope Merlin was ready for one more fight.

"Okay Gold, you're doing a good job so far." Bugsy said leaning on his net's poll.

"Thanks, I worked hard with Merlin to get this far." I said.

"I can see, now let's see how you do against my Spinarak!" he said as he tossed another pokeball wearing a fat grin across his face like he knew something I didn't.

In the following flash of light I saw the familiar shape of the pokemon that harassed me and Lyra back in the mountains. I smiled at the sight of this green pokemon, because I knew the trick about these spiders. Bugsy was probably going to pull the _their webs are poisonous_ trick on me. I could tell Merlin knew this too and he glanced back at me as we both exchanged a collective nod.

"Spinarak use string shot!" said Bugsy once again pointing his net with his smirk on his face.

"Merlin fly into the canopy!" I said motioning my hand to get Merlin to move.

Merlin quickly avoided the toxic webbing and flew into the trees that ran around the perimeter. If I was right then the trees will make it extremely difficult for the spider to shoot his toxic webs at Merlin.

"After him Spinarak!" Bugsy said pointing his net.

In quick response to its trainer's command the spider quickly scurried up into the nearby trees. Both Bugsy and I lost sight of our pokemon and we heard a large amount of commotion coming from the trees. I ran across the field to try and get a better look but couldn't.

"Merlin be careful in there!" I said concerned that I couldn't see him.

Then suddenly Merlin burst out from the top of the canopy and flew over to land on one of the vines that hung over me. I turned to see him and he looked pretty beat up. Man whatever happened in there it was clear that the spider defiantly had the upper hand. My plan must've back fired; Merlin wasn't the best at flying through thick canopies where the spider pokemon had an advantage.

I then saw the Spinarak leave the nearby tree and scurry across the same vine that Merlin was perched on. My Hoothoot quickly turned to face his foe and was ready for my command.

"Good work Spinarak! Now use poison sting to finish it!" said Bugsy enthusiastically.

"Merlin use peck!"

Merlin kicked off the vine and flew towards the spider. The Spinarak quickly dodged the attack and bite into Merlin's wing as he flew by. Merlin landed farther down the vine and turned again to face the spider at the other end of the vine. I could tell that Merlin was about to collapse and the spider was too fast for him in this condition, I had to think of something quickly.

"Spinarak use poison sting one more time, go!"

The spider closed in on Merlin with its insectoid fangs flaring. Then I had an idea.

"Merlin cut the vine!" I said franticly.

Merlin nodded to me and using his taloned foot he quickly sliced the vine underneath him. The spider with its foothold severed plummeted towards the ground with Merlin flying in the air.

"No Spinarak!" said Bugsy with his voice showing worry for the first time.

The spider fell roughly twenty feet and crashed into the ground, thankfully it was out cold.

"Way to go Gold! All you have to do now is beat his last pokemon, you can do it!" Lyra cheered for me.

"Thanks Lyra, don't worry I'm ready for him." I said turning to see Lyra who had let her Marill out to watch.

"Merlin you've fought long enough, here have a break you've earned it." I said as I returned Merlin to his pokeball.

"Nile my main man, time to go to work." I said as let loose Nile's pokeball.

Nile burst forth ready for a fight and growled in anticipation.

"So it's down to our last pokemon I see." said Bugsy with his smirk returning to his face.

"Nile and I are ready for anything your Sycther can dish out, its attack might be high but Nile can take any hit like a champ. And just like your other bugs it won't be able to take a many hits from Nile." I said with confidence as Nile showed off his strength.

"My Scyther?" said Bugsy as he tilted his head like I said something confusing.

"Yeah your Sycther, I did my research and I know for a fact that your best pokemon is a Sycther."

"Oh, I don't have a Scyther anymore, I mean technically I still have him, but he's not a Scyther anymore." He said as he grabbed his last pokeball.

"Wait…What? What do you mean not anymore?" I said confused.

Bugsy's smirk grew wider as he tossed his last pokeball and said, "Here let me show you. Go Scizor!"

"A Scizor?" Lyra and I both exclaimed as the flash of light revealed to us what it was.

What we saw shocked us both. It was bright red pokemon whose shell had a lustrous shine. It stood on two thin legs connected to a large red abdomen. It had broad spiked shoulders with four insect wings on its back. Its head had three spikes on it, but no visible mouth. Unlike a Scyther this pokemon's arms ended in massive bear trap like claws. The pokemon stood there motionless with its eyes closed and its arms crossed. The scariest part about it was that it was almost as tall as me.

"This is a Scizor, the final evolution of Sycther. I had just recently figured out how to evolve him too. So congrats, you're the first person to see my new ace player." said Bugsy with his arms crossed.

"What the heck?" I said dumbfounded by this massive red insect.

Nile was in shock too, he had never faced an opponent who could tower over him before.

"Scizor let's go!"

The Scizor's eyes shot open as it swung its claws to the sides and gave them a quick test. The claws opened and closed with lighting fast speed and they sounded like two swords being slide against each other.

"Nile get ready! Remember it's still a bug type, it won't be able to last long if you wail on him!" I said as I pointed my finger towards the red insect.

Nile charged towards his towering opponent with his jaws ready to go.

"Scizor go and use furry cutter!"

The Scizor assumed a fighting stance and zoomed towards Nile carried aloft by its wings. When the two met the Scizor launched one of its claws down towards Nile. The Scizor was fast but Nile was just as quick and he side stepped out the way as the claw dug into the ground.

"Yeah get him Nile, he's open!" Lyra cheered.

Nile seeing his chance quickly clamped his jaws down on the insect's arm. But when he did I saw his eyes shoot open and he quickly released his hold and hollered in pain like he had just bitten into a rock. The Scizor then calmly pulled its claw out of the dirt and turned to face the small reptile.

"Wait, what just happened? Why didn't Nile's bite do anything?" I said in confusion.

"Well, you were right when you said that most bug types have very low defenses. But Scizor here isn't just a bug type. He is part bug and part steel!" Bugsy exclaimed with joy.

"Steel!?" Lyra and I both exclaimed.

"Yep, Scizor's entire exoskeleton was originally just your average organic shell, but was then replaced with steel when he evolved."

"Its body is made of steel." I shuddered as I realized what that meant for this fight.

Nile's most powerful attack was his bite and that couldn't even scratch this guy. What was I going to do? What could I possibly do? Nile could never beat him like this. I stood there in shock.

"Scizor, use furry cutter!" said Bugsy.

"Nile get out of there, run!" I said panicking.

Nile quickly ran away as the terrifying sound of the Scizor's claws echoed across the room as Nile bobbed and weaved around the Scizor's attacks. One after the other the claws clamped down towards Nile. His reflexes could hardly keep up with this insect's intense speed and ferocity. Suddenly the Scizor kicked its leg forward straight into Nile's jaw and threw him off his feet.

"Nile look out!" I yelled in horror.

The Scizor was quickly over Nile and plunged its crab like claw down towards the Totodile. Nile then quickly grabbed both ends of the claw with his hands and held it open before it could slice him. The Scizor pinned Nile to the ground and put all its weight down onto him. The claw over Nile was slowly closing and Nile couldn't keep it pried open for long. I could see Nile was in agony and he struggled with everything he had to keep the claw off him.

"Nile! No! Get out of there! Use water gun!" I said terrified that Nile wouldn't just lose, but die.

Nile struggled but managed to fire off a jet of water that knocked the Scizor off him. Just as Nile got up to his feet the Scizor was on the attack again. With its claw closed, the red insect dashed towards Nile and spun around smashing its heavy claw into Nile's side and sent him tumbling.

"Nile!" Lyra gasped in horror.

Nile struggled up to his feet, but then I saw the Scizor dash forward again with its claw open as it lunged towards Nile.

Nile dived out of the way but the Scizor quickly sped up and swept its leg around nailing Nile as he made contact with the ground. Then the Scizor dashed forward and kneed Nile as he tried to stand up sending him tumbling backwards once again.

"Nile use water gun!"

Nile shot up to his feet and inhaled, but before he could use his attack the Scizor moved even faster than before and swept it's closed claw along the ground and uppercut Nile launching him into the air. But the Scizor wasn't done, it then swung it's other claw downward and smashed into Nile while he was still in the air and sent him straight into the ground.

"Nile No!" I said panicking.

The Scizor then quickly dashed backwards before it lunged forwards with a claw ready to go as Nile tried to stand.

"Nile dodge it! Don't try to stop it! Just run!" I yelled.

But Nile didn't run, he did something else. Nile's eyes flared open and he threw his fist downward knocking the vice like claw straight into the ground in front of him. All the occupants in the room gasped at the sight. The Scizor looked shocked as well at the sight of this little reptile deflecting its attack.

I looked at Nile's eyes and saw that they weren't normal, they were driven and determined. I could see a fire in those eyes that I've never seen before.

"Scizor use metal claw!" ordered Bugsy

The Scizor in retaliation lunged its other claw forward. Nile roared and caught the claw with his hands and held it open. The Scizor tried to crush his claw around Nile and it slowly started to inch closer to him. Closer and closer the claw moved towards Nile to finish him, but after it was only mere inches away from him it stopped. Then for moment nothing happened, as neither side budged. Then the claw moved back!

"What!" Bugsy exclaimed as he saw Nile push back the Scizor's bear trap like claw.

"Nile?" I said in shock as I paused to take in what I was witnessing.

"Nile keep going!..Don't stop! You can do it!" I yelled cheering Nile on.

How was Nile doing this? Where was this strength coming from? It didn't matter, somehow Nile was doing it, and he needed me to cheer him on.

"Nile, you can do it!" cheered Lyra.

"Come on Nile I believe in you, keep going!" I yelled.

Nile gritted his teeth and took a step forward and pushed the massive bug backwards. Then he took another step and pushed it further. The Scizor was digging its clawed feet into the ground and was desperately trying to push back, but failing. Then suddenly Nile smirked at the Scizor.

What happened next no one saw coming. Nile roared loudly as strange aura of water started to swirl around Nile's feet. Nile's skin then started to give off a dim glowing haze that rose off him like steam.

"Nile?" I said in disbelief.

"Gold what's happening to him?" said Lyra.

"No way…." exclaimed Bugsy.

Nile's entire body suddenly began to glow bright white as the water beneath his feet rose up and engulfed him in a swirling egg shape. From within the swirling mass of water Nile's glowing form began to change shape! His body became taller, his jaws grew larger, and the spikes on his back lengthened. Suddenly the water around him dispersed and revealed Nile's new form.

"No way, he evolved into a Croconaw!" Bugsy said in disbelief.

"Nile evolved!?" I said in utter disbelief.

I had never seen a pokemon evolve before. I knew that they could, but I never saw it with my own eyes up until now. It was an incredible sight, one I would never forget. Nile stood a chance now.

Nile with his new form let loose a powerful roar at the Scizor whose claw was still in Nile's grasp. The Scizor's eyes widen at what had just happed before it. The newly formed Croconaw smirked a toothy grin and twisted the Scizor's arm pulling the insect towards him. Nile then smashed his elbow in the Scizor's face throwing it backwards. Nile could do it now, Nile could win!

"Nile let's do this! Use water gun and follow up with a tackle!" I ordered with new found courage.

Nile growled and dashed forward as he fired off jets of water the struck the Scizor and sent tumbling across the grass.

"Things just got interesting! Scizor use double team!" ordered Bugsy.

The Scizor quickly jumped to its feet and started vibrating at intense speeds. Then copies of itself started the spread across the battlefield. Nile stopped in his tracks and spun around looking at all the copies that surrounded him.

"Nile stay on your guard, those are just fakes, only one of them is real!" I said remembering my research.

"Scizor use furry cutter!"

The clones drew closer to Nile and they all dove in to attack. But Nile somehow knew which one was the real one and spun around to grab its arm and drive it into the ground once again.

The clones dispersed as the real one tried to quickly free its claw from the ground. Before it could Nile smashed into the red insect and plowed it across the field with his new found strength.

"Nile use bite!" I said.

As Nile pushed the Scizor he opened his jaws and clamped down across the insects body. Unfortunately it did nothing and the Scizor retaliated by nailing him in the gut forcing Nile to release his hold. The steel insect then spun around and tried to slice at Nile.

"Nile, deflect it and bite again!"

The Croconaw quickly smashed the claw to the side with his arms and tackled the bug. Once again Nile chomped down on the Scizor's steel armor. Again nothing happened, but Nile wouldn't give up and continued to chomp away at the armor. The clang of tooth and metal echoed across the room as Nile tried desperately to inflect any form of damage.

"Ha nice try Gold, but that won't work, even with your Croconaw's new strength, he'll never be able to…" said Bugsy smugly before he was silenced by a sound he thought he'd never hear.

CRACK!

The sickening sound of cracking metal filled the room as the scarlet armor beneath Nile's jaws fissured.

"What! Impossible! Scizor!" yelled Bugsy as he dropped his net.

"Nile quickly, attack the cracked armor!"

Nile swung his head around launched the Scizor across the field. The Scizor tried to get up but was quickly pinned to the ground as Nile jumped on top of him. The Croconaw then unleashed a barrage of punches into the cracked portion of the Scizor's armor and wouldn't let up until the scarlet bug finally collapsed in an exhausted heap. Nile threw his arms up into the air and roared in triumph as he got off the armored bug.

"Nile, you did it!" I said running up to him.

I kneeled down and gave him a hug and noticed just how tall he was now, his head now came up to the top of my gut when I stood. I also noticed that his belly was speckled now with yellow spots.

"Gold that was amazing! And same goes to you Nile!" said Lyra who ran up to congratulate us.

Bugsy returned his Scizor and walked over to me.

"I honestly can't believe it; Gold you have an unbelievably strong pokemon there." He said.

"Anyone who can train a pokemon capable of breaking a Scizor's armor is worthy of having this." Bugsy said holding out a round badge with ladybug design on it.

"This is the Hive badge, and here is your prize, you've earned them." he said holding out a check with his other hand.

I stood up to claim my prizes and said, "Thank you very much Bugsy."

"I can see why now Team Rocket lost to you, your pokemon believe in you and in turn they fight to their fullest. Especially Nile here, it's because of you he was able to evolve and win this fight. I have to say that was the best battle I had in long time." He said shaking my hand.

"Looks like I'm going to have to put Scizor back on that high iron diet again." He chuckled to himself.

"Yeah I guess so, hey um before we leave can I ask you something." I said.

"Sure, shoot."

"Are there any contest's held in Azelea town? Cause Lyra is a coordinator and we need to know where more contests are held."

"Oh yeah, thanks for remembering that Gold. Yeah Bugsy are there any held here?" said Lyra.

"Sorry, Azelea doesn't hold any contests; you want to head to Goldenrod City. They have a massive contest hall for you there, second largest in Johto in fact." He said to Lyra.

"Oh, and there's a gym there for you too." He said turning to me.

"Hey, my grandparents live just outside of Goldenrod!" Lyra said excitedly.

"Hey Gold, you wanna meet them?" she said turning to me.

"Um, sure I'd love to." I said.

We continued to talk to Bugsy for a while and I asked many questions about pokemon evolution and how it happens. Unfortunately he told me that every pokemon is different and the same methods won't always work. Our conversation was then cut short as that Yanma from before zipped by.

"Ah-ha, there you are! Well I'll see you two later, hope we meet again!" said Bugsy as he lifted his net and went after the pokemon.

"Alright I then, guess that's our cue to leave, come on Nile let's go." I said as I turned to Nile.

Nile just stood there for a sec before he fell backwards and passed out.

"*giggle* Looks like Nile needs a nap after that evolution. Let's take him to the pokemon center before we head out." Lyra laughed as I returned Nile.

Before we left I grabbed my sweat shirt and shook a few bugs off it before placing my new badge next to my other one. We then left the gym and went back to the pokemon center to drop Nile and Merlin off. It was about lunch time when we got there so we left to grab a bite to eat while we waited for the nurse's to do their magic.

A few people recognized us while we were at the fast food joint though, and I once again found myself scratching the back of my neck again whenever they talked to us. I have to stop doing that. I wish I wasn't so shy around other people. I've been getting better since I was ten; like sometimes talking to just one person can be easy for me, and even talking to adults is pretty easy too, but groups of kids my age just get to me. The only person I can talk to without any problems is probably Lyra.

To be completely honest, even with my improvements, I'm surprised that I even have a real friend, especially a friend as great as Lyra. I can't believe how lucky I am that I met her. I wish I could remember the day I met her though, we've hung out so much that the memory of that day just kind of faded away. I wish I could remember what I did that made her want to be my friend, because I was pretty pathetic back then. I mean I was a ten year old boy who had never had a friend in his life because I was a shut in who just played on my game boy and read books.

While I'm on the subject of myself, I began think again about my unusual habit of becoming bolder than I normally am. Like whenever Lyra and I are in trouble somehow I'm able to take control of the situation and get us out of it. I've also noticed that I'm able to think with a very tactical mind when I'm in the middle of a battle, but for some reason I can't think like that when I'm just talking to other people and I just get tensed up. It's like I'm a different person.

It's funny, now that I think about it; me and Nile aren't that different from each other. We're both shy of others and when we are challenged we become like different people. I wish I could be that person I turn into. It's almost as if the way I am right now is Ethan, and the other me is Gold; the version of me that's brave, strategic, bold, and strong. Why can't I be Gold all the time? Why can't I?

"Hey Goldy boy, you okay? You look like you've got something on your mind?"

I snapped out of my thoughts and found myself at the table of a fast food joint that I vaguely remember entering.

"Oh, sorry, um were you saying something Lyra? I was, I was thinking about something and I guess I just kinda, um, zoned out." I said nervously scratching the back of my neck.

Damn it Ethan, again with the neck scratching!? Stop doing that! Wait why am I calling myself Ethan like it was some kind of insult? That's weird.

"What were you thinking about?"

"I was thinking about how glad I am that you're my friend… Wait. I mean uh!" I said quickly realizing that's not at all what I wanted to say as my face started to blush a bit.

Smooth Ethan, can't even talk to your best friend without sounding awkward. You can't just say stuff like that out of blue you idiot! Wait did I just do it again? Why am I using that name to insult myself?

"Really?...Well, I'm also really glad that you're my friend too." She said cheerfully.

Okay that went better than I expected considering I just said that last statement out of nowhere without really thinking.

"You are?" I said.

"Well of course I am; why wouldn't I? You're my best friend. *pause* Besides, you're the only guy I can electrify during a shower and get away with it. *giggle*" She said smiling back at me.

I couldn't help but laugh when she said that and she in turned laughed as well

"Well um, anyway, I think we should head back to the center. I'm pretty sure that the Nurses are done now." I said getting up from the table with Lyra following me.

As we got up I couldn't help but wonder why I was calling myself Ethan. I know it's my real name and all, but something about the way I said it to myself just felt like I was… well… ashamed of my other self. I tried not to think about it and buried those thoughts.

But still… am I a different person when I fight?

After arriving at pokemon center we gathered our pokemon and thanked the nurses. When we left I decided to let Nile walk with us to give him some practice with his new body. It's so funny to see Nile in his new form, I was so used to his short posture that it's hard to believe that this Croconaw is the same Totodile from before.

As I was glancing at Nile I wondered if the scar on his left arm was still there. To my dismay it was still there and it seemed to be larger than before. Probably because his arm was bigger now and the scar just got bigger with it.

"Well it looks like we've got plenty of time to reach Goldenrod today." said Lyra glancing up at the sky as we walk towards the edge of the town.

"Yeah, and what's better is that the map says that there's a major road that can take us all the way there. We should be able to get there in no time." I said as I pulled out the map to show her.

"I hope you like my grandparents, they run a daycare center together and they get to raise all sorts of cool pokemon." said Lyra as she picked up her Marill to carry her.

"Well, we'll be sure to meet them when we get there." I said as I smiled back at her.

I was about to say something about the weather or something stupid like that when I heard a voice from behind me.

"Where do you think you're going, you little son of a bitch."

No… not that voice. Anything but that voice, it can't be him. I turned to face the voice of the one person that I never wanted to see again.

It was Silver.

* * *

**Aside from the obvious fight with Silver, I smell foreshadowing. **

**I hope you enjoy the story and keep coming back for more next week.**


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10: Gold vs. Silver and a Trip to Ilex

Silver stood across from us about ten meters out. He stood to the side and stared back at me with red hair draping over his left eye. His hands were in his pockets and his composure was intimidating. The grimace on his face was intense and paralyzing.

Nile standing to my side stepped forward and growled at Silver which did little to faze him. He just stood there with hate in his eyes. I was fighting my urge to cower like a fool like I did back at Sprout tower.

"You must have some nerve to go around and claim that you beat Team Rocket, you weak bastard." said Silver as he shifted his stance and brushed the hair out of his face.

"Gold, who is that?" said Lyra worriedly as she stepped closer to me.

"Oh and now you call yourself fucking Gold too?! You must think that's so god damn funny don't cha. What, were you too ashamed of your own name so you had to copy mine to make yourself sound tougher?" he said as his eye twitched angrily.

"Lyra, that's the guy I told you about, that's Silver. He's the kid who stole Elm's pokemon." I said feeling the fear I felt the last time I saw him creeping in.

"Oh don't remind me, thanks to you getting in my way the fucking cops are constantly on my ass! Oh the list of things about you that pisses me off just goes on and on." He added in spiteful tone.

"What the hell do you want Silver, just leave us alone!" I exclaimed trying to sound tough.

Silver unfazed by my demands responded, "What I want is for weak bastards like you to stop getting in my way. And how a fucking weakling like you manages to get two gym badges before me really pisses me off. What, do they pity you, like your some kind of weak child with a sad story and give you those badges out charity!"

"Shut up!" I barked back him in a tone that made him flinch.

I'd had enough of Silver calling me weak, I felt that fear of him melt away as I took on a defiant pose. It was settled, I was going to kick his ass.

"I am not weak! I earned those badges fair and square! And I did beat Team Rocket and their leader Proton!"

"Pfft, you're pathetic and a moron, Proton isn't the leader of Team Rocket you idiot. All you managed to do was scare off a bunch of fucking thugs that hide in god damn hole!"

"Oh yeah, well at least I helped people instead of going around stealing and bullying my way to get this far!" I retorted looking Silver dead in the eye.

Silver quickly grabbed two pokeballs from his waist belt pointed one of them towards me and said "Watch your mouth kid! You're speaking to future greatest pokemon master of the world. And I'm going to make sure that you never get in my way again."

"Fine you wanna fight, I'll fight you!" I said as Nile readied himself and growled at Silver.

"Gold wait! If he's the one who stole Elm's pokemon we should get the police." said Lyra worriedly who was standing a few feet behind me.

"He'll be long gone before they get here. And I'm not leaving; I have a score to settle with him." I said with a serious tone as I grabbed Merlin's pokeball.

"But Gold, we have to get the police!"

She paused looking back at me. She looked worried about the situation and her eyes stared at me begging me to leave with her. But I stood firm and showed her I that I wasn't going to back down.

"Fine, I'll go and get the police… you can… you can handle him right?" said Lyra.

"Don't worry I'll keep him busy till you get back." I said turning my hat to the side.

"Alright."

She promptly nodded her head and she ran off. Before disappearing down the road she looked back at me for moment then dashed away. I could tell she was worried about me. But now it was time for me settle what me and Silver started.

"Alright Silver it's just you and me now, Merlin let's go!" I said as I tossed the pokeball.

Merlin burst forth from the pokeball and flew over to Nile's side glaring at Silver.

"Pfft, you think you'll last long enough for those good for nothing cops to get here. I'll be done with you long before that. Go Gamma and Beta!" said Silver as he released his pokemon.

After a quick display of lights Silver's pokemon took shape to face Nile and Merlin. One of them was the Chikorita that Nile fought from before and hovering next to it was a Magnemite. The mechanical pokemon seemed to oscillate side to side in regular rhythm as the magnets on its sides spun around. But Silver's Chikorita had a very odd composure. It looked very distressed and became a little skittish when its eyes looked at Nile.

"Gamma use vine whip and Beta use discharge!" ordered Silver indicating who should attack who with his hand.

Silver's pokemon did as they were told and began the attack. The Chikorita, who I could only assume he called Gamma, hesitated for moment before it closed its eyes and lashed out several vines towards Nile blindly. The Croconaw promptly dodged them with ease by diving out of the way. The Magnemite named Beta hovered towards Merlin and unleashed a pulse of electricity as its magnets spun around at high speed. The pulse surged across the air towards Merlin who took off from the ground to avoid the attack.

"Nile, it's using vine whip you know what do! And Merlin use hypnosis on the Magnemite!"

Looking over at Nile I saw him nod towards me and shifted his gaze back to the stout pokemon. Silver's Chikorita tensed up and took a step back for a moment before closing its eyes again and lashing out more vines from around its neck. The crocodilian promptly side stepped out of the way and grabbed the vines with his hand. Gamma yelped and tried to pull back but Nile was too heavy for her and couldn't make the Croconaw budge.

I glanced up and saw Merlin flying over head trying to put the magnetic machine to sleep, but failing to connect with any of his attacks. The two continued to circle each other in mid air exchanging attacks.

Looking back at Nile I saw that he remembered our strategy from Sprout tower, but he had to improvise a little. Grabbing the vines with both hands, Nile yanked the stout green pokemon towards him. The Chikorita's face lit up with fear as she saw the imposing jaws of Nile open wide. The grass pokemon let out a cry of help as she was dragged towards Nile.

"Gamma you're pathetic! Delta use thunder shock on that stupid reptile before Gamma gets herself killed." said Silver in an aggravated tone.

Diverting its attention away from Merlin the Magnemite turned to discharge a bolt of electricity that struck Nile. The Croconaw hollered painfully as his body convulsed releasing his hold of the vines setting the Chikortia free.

"Merlin, take out that Magnemite, quickly before it fries Nile!" I ordered.

Merlin heeding to my command let loose more waves of spiraling light towards the metal orb. In quick retaliation the Magnemite dodged the attacks and discharged its electrical bolts. Merlin didn't have time to escape and they were about to strike him.

"Merlin no!" I said as I quickly looked away not wanting to see Merlin in pain.

But then I looked back and saw something spectacular. Surrounding Merlin was a yellowish orb of light that appeared to be made of hundreds of hexagons. The electricity arced around the orb and only fragments of the attack reached Merlin.

"Merlin, you learned a new move?" I said astonished at this new shield like technique.

I was further surprised to see that Nile was also surrounded by the yellow shield. Nile looked shocked and quickly glanced around wondering where the orb that surrounded him came from.

"What the hell is that?" said Silver who was both bewildered and angered by what had happened.

I quickly took advantage of this new shield and issued my commands.

"Nile use water gun on the Magnemite and Merlin use hypnosis!"

The duo began their attacks as Merlin flew in towards the magnetic machine protected by his new shield. But Nile was stopped when the Chikorita charged forward to attack him.

"Gamma use Leaf blade!"

The Chikorita charged forward and quickly flicked her head around to slash its leaf at Nile. The Croconaw looking down out the stout pokemon promptly shifted to the side and twirled around to smash his tail into the Chikorita, knocking her back towards its trainer.

Meanwhile the battle raged on above as electricity and spiraling lights danced across the open air. Dodging left and right the two went at it but every time the electricity made contact it was severely weakened by Merlin's shield. Finally the hypnosis made contact and took out the Magnemite. But Merlin was looking exhausted from the sparse amounts of electricity that did reach him. I could tell he wasn't going to hold out much longer.

I glanced over towards Silver who snorted angrily as he returned his magnetic machine. He then turned to look down at the Chikorita who was lying on the ground to his side.

"Gamma you weakling, get back up and fight!" he barked at his pokemon.

The grass pokemon looked up at Silver and was looking very distraught and on the verge of crying. I don't know how, but I could see it in the poor pokemon's eyes that she wasn't just scared of Nile; she was out right terrified of him and was practically begging not fight anymore.

"I told you…To get up!" he said as he kicked the poor creature.

"This is why you're called Gamma you weak runt, you can't even win when you have the fucking type advantage!" he said promptly kicking the grass pokemon again.

Silver's pokemon was crying that her trainer was hurting her. And I was appalled by what I was seeing.

"Silver stop! What's wrong with you, can't you see it's scared and doesn't want to fight!" I yelled at him in anger.

Silver merely glanced back and sneered at me before returning his hateful gaze at the crying pokemon.

"You're pathetic Gamma, get back here." Silver said returning the distraught pokemon.

I was enraged by what I saw. How could he do that to a poor pokemon?!

"Damn these weak pokemon, I knew I should've just left this to Alpha in the first place." He said tossing another pokeball.

"Alpha, show this weak asshole what it means to be strong!" he said as the pokeball opened and unleashed the creature inside.

What formed after the flash of light was a Quilava. Its fur was dark blue with a creamy under belly, and when it stood up on its hind legs it was roughly as tall as Nile. Upon seeing the Croconaw that stood before it the Quilava ignited its flames and let loose a powerful roar that echoed across the area.

As I stood there I noticed that something with Quilava's eyes just wasn't right, for they were filled with hate and rage. Before I could say anything to Nile the fire type got down to all fours and charged the Croconaw with intense speed as the fires on its head and tail burned brighter. Nile, with the shield fading around him, was eager to fight this obviously powerful opponent and charged forward as well.

The two collided and locked hands as they tried to overpower one another. The two snarled at each other as each one prepared for the other to make a move.

"Nile use water gun and Merlin throw up that shield again!"

The Quilava's eyes quickly shot up to see the Hoothoot preparing the shield, then looked back at Nile who was about to unleash a torrent of water. Silver snickered as his Quilava violently upper cut Nile in the jaw and diverted the water gun straight at Merlin. I looked up and saw Merlin get struck by the water and knocked out of the air as he plummeted towards the ground, where he was knocked out cold.

"Merlin no!" I said in shock of the fire type's maneuver.

Nile was pissed off, I could tell he hated being used to hurt his friend and retaliated by smashing the Quilava across the face. With Alpha thrown off balance Nile tackled the badger pokemon and followed up a flurry of punches to pummel him.

"Alpha use ember!"

"Nile, water gun go!"

The two dashed away from the each other skidding to halt several feet apart as they both inhaled and let loose their respective elements. The torrent of water collided with a spray of red hot embers and caused a cloud of steam to rise up.

Alpha then dashed forward parting the steam cloud around it and kneed Nile in the gut before following up with a right hook into his jaw. Nile gritted his teeth from the blow and socked the Quilava in the side before head butting the fire type. As Alpha tried to recover from the attack Nile rammed into him and plowed him across the road using his superior weight to overpower the fire badger.

"Alpha fight back, stop him!"

Heeding his trainer's command Alpha quickly dug its heels into the ground and skidded along until he stopped Nile dead in his tracks. The Croconaw snarled angrily as he struggled to push his opponent back. The fires on the Quilava's head and tail raged as it took a step forward pushing Nile backward. Then it violently grabbed Nile's scarred arm and twisted it before kicking him backwards.

"Alpha use flame wheel!"

Silver' pokemon dashed backwards and got on all fours. Its flames raged as its body was quickly enveloped by a veil of intense fire and he began to rapidly spin, charging Nile.

"Nile use water gun!"

Nile quickly shot up to his feet and let loose a torrent of water towards the fiery wheel. When the two attacks collided massive gouts of steam rose up as a sizzle echoed across the area. The steam spread across the road enveloping both Silver and his pokemon. After a few moments of nothing I saw the Quilava quickly jump out of the steam and nailed Nile with a left hook. Nile was thrown off his feet and he tried to get up as the steam lifted.

"Alpha use flame wheel again!"

"Nile, look out!"

It was too late, I saw Nile try to get up only to be knocked back down again by the spinning inferno. Nile tried to recover but the badger pokemon was on the attack again as it spun around and rushed forwards throwing left and right hooks. Nile tried to fight back and slashed his claws at Alpha, but his attempts seemed to do nothing to faze the pokemon.

"Nile use bite!"

Heeding to my command Nile quickly grabbed the Quilava and tried to clamp down on the fire type. But Alpha cranked up the heat as the flames on his back burned so intensely that Niles arms began to sizzle as the water on his skin turned to steam, forcing Nile to let go. I was shocked by the sheer power of this pokemon's flames. They were strong enough to repel even Nile who was a water type. What the hell is wrong with Silver's pokemon? Why is it so strong?

"Nile quickly, use water gun and douse those flames!"

"Alpha use quick attack and finish off that stupid reptile!"

The Quilava moved faster than before and dashed side to side as Nile tried desperately to hit the fire badger with his powerful water jets. But it was pointless, Nile couldn't make contact and the Quilava dashed into Niles gut. Nile was knocked back a bit, but Alpha wasn't finished as he followed up with a succession of left and right hooks one after the other before finally jumping up and drop kicking Nile in the face. The Croconaw was sent flying backwards. He tumbled along the ground before he finally gave out.

"Nile!" I yelled in disbelief.

The Quilava quickly turned to face me and growled at me as the flames on his back raged. In reaction to the pokemon's display I felt the fear from before start to overtake me. I took several steps back before I froze up. The feeling of defeat and helplessness I felt at Cheery Grove returned to me, I lost again.

"Look at you now Gold." said Silver walking over.

"You're so pathetic and weak, and now I'll make sure you never get in my way again." he said motioning towards his Quilava.

I couldn't move I was paralyzed with fear; I just stood there as his Quilava walked in front of him and stared straight at me. I wanted to run but my legs wouldn't listen. I just cowered in fear of what Silver was going to do.

"Alpha use ember."

"Noo! Don't hurt him!"

Lyra?

Out of nowhere I saw Lyra dash from the side of the road and stand in front of me. She pressed her back towards me and threw her arms to the sides like she was trying to protect me from the Quilava.

"Lyra?!" I said utterly confused as to why she was here.

"Please, don't hurt him, I'm begging you!" she cried looking back at Silver.

"He's my only friend, please don't hurt him!" she added.

Silver looked at us with his Quilava ready to go at moment's notice. He paused for moment as if he was seriously considering Lyra's plea. But then the grimace on his face intensified and he looked like he was about to issue the command.

I tensed up as the thought of death ran through my head.

But instead issuing the attack, he sneered at us before reaching for his pokeball.

"Hmph, you're so pathetic that you need a little girl to come and save you… I've had enough of you weak runts anyway and you're not worth my time, Alpha we're leaving." said Silver before returning his Quilava and walking away.

I wasn't sure what just happened and I was utterly confused by Silver's action. I was almost certain that he was going to kill me, or worse kill Lyra. After a few moments of Silver's absence Lyra turned around and held me crying to herself.

"Gold…I'm…I'm so sorry. It's my fault you almost got killed…. I should've stayed and helped you." she cried.

I paused for a second as I looked down at her. She had her face buried in my sweatshirt and she was crying.

"Promise me…. Promise me you'll never fight him alone again…. Please promise me." she said looking up at me with tear filled eyes.

I wasn't sure what to do, everything had happened so fast. I was caught up with my feeling of defeat and my desire to say something. So I just let instinct kick in as I wrapped my arms around her and said.

"I'm sorry Lyra….I promise I won't fight him alone again." I said lightly.

"I…I…I should've stayed with you…it's my fault." she cried.

"No, don't blame yourself… I'm the stupid one for trying to fight him." I said trying to comfort her.

She buried her face again and said something in response but I couldn't make it out it was too muffled.

We both stood there for minute or so. By this time Lyra was starting to calm down and I was certain that Silver was long gone. I couldn't believe it ended like this, I thought I was strong enough to finally stop him. And what's worse is that because of me Lyra almost got killed along with me. Why did Silver stop?

"Lyra I think he's gone now… let's just go back to Azelea and forget about this." I said as I let go of her.

She just looked up at me for few moments.

"…..Okay." she said rather upset before letting go of me and stepping back.

She was holding her hands together rather nervously and she was looking down. I felt like I should just give her some space for awhile and didn't try to say anything that might make it worse.

So instead I walked over to my fainted pokemon and recovered them back to their pokeballs. Thankfully none of them looked to badly injured. But I couldn't believe how strong Silver's Quilava was, and what was up with the names he gave his pokemon? Were they ranks or something, with Alpha being the strongest?

After those thoughts lingered in my head for a bit I motioned towards Lyra that we were heading out and she quietly nodded her head and followed me.

As we walked back to town neither of us said anything and even though I suck at reading Lyra's body language, I could tell she still blamed herself about what happened. I wanted to cheer her up somehow, I hate seeing her upset, but I wasn't sure what to do. I myself was feeling pretty low about my defeat and wasn't sure how effective I could be at that. But the silence was getting to me so I spoke up.

"Lyra, why did you come back…I thought you were getting the cops?"

"…I heard that Quilava roar echo from behind me …and I thought you were in trouble….so I ran back..." she said rather dismally with her head held low.

Wow freaking brilliant Gold, just bring up the incident we went through, no that won't make her more upset. I have to stop opening my big fat mouth and say whatever first pops into my head. I have to say something else.

"So um Lyra, you wanna get something to eat? It's kinda late we should have some dinner."

"I'm not hungry." she said holding her arm in a low voice.

Great this isn't working she's still upset, come on Gold you're her best friend it's your job to make her feel better. Come on think of something!

As I failed to come up with anything I saw noodle stand just down the road, which gave me an idea.

"Well, are you sure?" I said trying to mimic that sly voice she uses all the time.

She glanced over at me.

"You sure you don't want a big bowl of ramen noodles? Cause I sure could go for one, you know, with crab and shrimp mixed in." I said smirking at her.

She held her head up and I saw a slight smile peak through.

"Actually….that sounds pretty good. Maybe just a little." she said lightly.

"Come on, I see a noodle stand just down the road."

We went to the stand and got two bowls and sat down on nearby table. We ate our noodles and Lyra slowly started cheering up. I struck up a conversation with her and we mostly talked about what kind of contests Lyra wanted to try out for, and how she wanted to catch some more pokemon before we reached Goldenrod. She clearly looked happy and I was glad I was able to her cheer up or at least take her mind of what happened.

But as we were talking I couldn't stop thinking about what she said earlier. Was it true? Am I really her only friend? I was almost positive she had more friends. How could she not? I mean someone like her would have lots of friends, cause she's so nice, sociable, funny, and pretty…

Pretty?

I never thought of Lyra as pretty before, other than the time we got her a dress. I mean she's my friend and the way she looks never really crosses my mind. But I'd be lying if I said I didn't think she was pretty. Now that I think about it, she's actually really cute; everything from her hair to her chocolate eyes and her slim petite body was cute.

"Gold wha'cha looking at, is there something on my face?"

I snapped out of my thoughts and realized that I was staring at her. I felt my face blush a little and I quickly tried to hide it.

"What? Um no, no I was just, uh, thinking of something, sorry." I said nervously scratching the back of my neck.

Great, now I look like a creep. I have to stop wondering off in my thoughts like that.

"Oh that's okay, you looked like you saw something. Anyway, I'm done so let's stop by the pokemon center before we go back to the hotel." She said getting up.

"Sure, right behind you."

We walked down the street and left Nile and Merlin in the nurse's hands before we went back to the hotel. The next day we got up and had a rather uneventful morning, even though I locked the bathroom door before I took my shower, I figured you never know when she might strike again. After we left the hotel we went back to get my pokemon before we left Azelea.

We walked for awhile down the road which was rather large and well up kept. The trees on the sides of the road were starting to lose their petals though, which was kind of a shame. The sky was cloudy, but it didn't look like it was going to rain.

"Hey Gold I'm hungry, do you have any food?" said Lyra with Marill walking beside her.

"Um, yeah I have some trail mix, here have some." I said handing her the bag of mix.

"Mmm, thanks." she said grabbing the bag.

I looked back down the road and saw what looked like a construction crew of over a hundred men accompanied by several rock and fighting type pokemon. It looked like they were renovating the road and several signs were up stating that the road was closed.

"Oh come on really?" I said agitated.

"What is it?" said Lyra who was looking off into the distance and didn't notice the signs.

"The road is closed, it looks they're doing some construction."

"Wait if the road is closed, then how will we get to Goldenrod?"

"Gimme a sec, I'll check the map." I said as I pulled out our map of Johto.

I combed the map for any route we could take. Lyra walked over still eating out of the bag to look at the map as well. I wasn't having much luck and I couldn't find a way around.

"Hey, we could take this path through the Ilex forest." said Lyra pointing to the path.

"Okay but that'll take us awhile, it's quite a detour." I said shrugging.

"What rush are we in, don't worry about it."

"Alright if you say so." I said rolling up the map.

"Besides a forest will be the perfect place to catch pokemon." She said excitedly.

"Yeah, I've been thinking about that too, and I also need more pokemon for my team."

"Well come on then, lets catch some new pokemon." Lyra said excitedly

We made our way back down the road and found the entrance to Ilex in Azelea and ventured inside. The forest was rather beautiful seeing as the trees still had some of their flowers; I wonder what this place was like earlier in spring.

I was looking around the forest and noticed that there were all sorts of pokemon moving about in the canopy. But none of them really interested me, or should I say struck me as being something I should catch for my team. After awhile I glanced to the side and saw something out of the corner of my eye.

I saw what looked like a girl off in the distance wearing a bright and colorful kimono, or at least I thought I did. Because when I looked back to where she was she was gone.

"That was weird." I muttered to myself.

"What was?" said Lyra turning to me as she continued to eat out of the bag of mix.

"Umm…Nothing I thought I saw someone but…nah it was nothing."

"Okay, whatever you say." she said as she let me pass her before she started walking again.

I heard Lyra rustle the bag behind me before she let out a disappointed sigh.

"Hey, um, Gold do you have any more food?"

I turned my head and said "Wait did you finish all that trail mix?"

"Um sorry, I said I was hungry."

"Seriously? That's all the food we had besides the stuff we packed for our pokemon."

"What really? Uggh I'm still hungry." She said in pouty voice.

"Sorry tough luck, that's all we have." I said turning back to look down the road.

I noticed as we walked that all that talk about food had left me kind of hungry too. I then remembered that I had a king sized chocolate bar in my bag. So I reached for it and took a bite.

"Gold, is that a chocolate bar?" said Lyra eyeing up the candy.

"Yeah." I said muffled by the chocolate in my mouth.

"Can I have it?"

"Pfft, heck no. You ate all the trail mix, this is mine."

"Ah come on Gold." said Lyra looking at me.

Oh no she was using those puppy eyes on me, the look that made me do anything she wanted. No, I had to stand strong; she ate all the trail mix this is what she gets.

"Sorry Lyra this is mine." I said smirking before I turned my head back.

"Fine, if you won't give to me…_then I'll take it by force_." she said in that sly voice of hers.

"Yeah whatever you say…wait what?" I said confused by her last statement

The next thing I knew Lyra tackled me from behind. I landed on the ground with Lyra on my back. She quickly tried to grab the chocolate out of my hand all the while laughing.

"I Lyra of New Bark, demand that you relinquish that chocolate!" she said playfully.

"Oh, you want to play rough huh? Fine, two can play at that game." I chuckled as I flipped around and tried to get her off me.

She quickly maneuvered around me and somehow got on top of me as I rolled over to my back. I held the bar over my head as she tried to grab it. I couldn't help but laugh as I watched Lyra's feeble attempts to get the candy from me.

"You'll have to do better than that." I snickered as I quickly hid the chocolate in my sweat shirt's pocket.

As she tried to grab the candy from my pocket I flipped around again this time pinning her to the ground. I held both of her hands in place and I looked down at her as she tried to get out of my hold. It was actually quite easy to hold her there, she wasn't that strong. If I really wanted to I could easily…

Oh wow, did I seriously just consider? Why would I ever think of doing that, that's sick!

Before I could further belittle myself for my dirty mind Lyra spoke up.

"Ow, Gold your hurting me." she said squirming.

"Oh shit, I'm sorry!" I said franticly letting go of her.

I quickly leaned up and looked back down at her worried that I may have hurt her, but that's when her face quickly took on a big grin and I realized I made big mistake.

"Ha! Fooled you!" she said taking the opportunity to jab me in the sides and steal the chocolate bar out of my pocket.

She then slide out from under me and stood up to enjoy her prize. Damn she's clever.

I looked up at her from the ground and said, "No fair you cheated."

"It's not cheating if you're the one who let go of me.*giggle* You're so gullible." she said winking at me.

She then laughed some more over her victory while enjoying the chocolate bar before she walked over to offer a hand to help me up.

"God you're like a child." I said getting up.

"Hmph, like I care, I still got my chocolate." she snickered in her sly voice.

"Well considering you're well feed now, maybe we should give Nile and the rest of the gang some food as well." I said reaching in my bag for the food we got specifically for our pokemon.

"Okay I see a spot over there we can sit at." said Lyra pointing towards a few logs on the side of the trail.

We promptly sat down at the logs and released or pokemon. Merlin found a nice branch to perch on nearby for he enjoyed being able to see things from up high. Marill and Teeka happily played tag with each other around the logs while Nile sat by himself munching on a turkey leg. Lyra and I were going through the pokedex together trying to find out what kind of pokemon lived in the forest when Teeka dashed past Nile stealing the turkey leg from him.

Nile got up and snapped his jaws at the little sheep and tried to get it back. Lyra and I looked at the commotion and watched as Teeka tossed the turkey leg to Marill who dashed behind a log. Nile darted around the log and tried to retrieve his meal when Marill tossed it back to Teeka. What soon followed as a hilarious game of keep away with Teeka clearly being the master mind behind the whole scheme. Lyra and I laughed as we watched our pokemon play.

But the game ceased when we heard something growl from a nearby bush. We all turned to face the noise. Nile seemed to take an interest to the growling, more so than us, and dashed forward hoping for a new opponent.

"Nile get ready I think it smells our food" I said standing up.

My thoughts were racing as I wondered what kind of pokemon would come out of the bush. It's probably strong, considering it came here knowing that we had four pokemon with us. I had a good feeling that I was about to see my new team member.

Nile growled at the bushes as the wild pokemon stepped forward.

* * *

**I have to say out of all the rivals in pokemon Silver is defiantly my favorite, other than Blue none of the other rivals strike me as a "rival", rather than just a friend.**

**Hope you enjoy this chapter and keep coming back.**


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11: A Tyrant Falls.

The pokemon that came out of the bush was quite anticlimactic. I was expecting something much larger, for what stood in front of us was about a third of Nile's height, and oddly enough it was pinkish purple. It walked on all fours and had large ears that were blue on the inside. Its back was covered in spikes and it had one larger horn on its head.

"That's it?" I said a little disappointed.

"Awe he's kinda cute." said Lyra.

Nile looked a little disappointed as well and shrugged upon seeing the stout pokemon. The pokemon responded by growling at Nile like it was trying to get his attention. That growl was a lot more intimidating before I saw what it was and now it was just cute.

I noticed that the wild pokemon it was focusing solely on Nile and ignoring everyone else which was a bit odd. Despite the intense look on the pink pokemon's face, Nile was kind of lax and just stood there wondering whether or not it should really bother with this wild pokemon. Then as if angered for being ignored the pokemon suddenly rushed forward to attack Nile.

Nile just lazily lifted his foot up and stopped the pokemon in its tracks without really trying. The pokemon pushed against the Croconaw's foot, but Nile just lightly shoved him off. The wild pokemon was tenacious though and quickly charged again before Nile stopped him a second time with his foot.

"I'll give him points for effort but Nile's not even trying." I said as I reached for the pokedex to find out who this attacker was.

After getting a scan of the pokemon the dex brought up the section on it.

"Nidoran Male, the poison pin pokemon. It is small, but its horn is filled with poison. It charges its prey and then stabs them with the horn to inject poison. They often live in large groups along with other blue Nidoran females." uttered the pokedex in the automated voice.

"Poisonous huh, Nile I'd be careful watch out for those spikes they're filled with poison."

"Gold, I think he's got it covered." said Lyra pointing over at Nile.

I looked up from the pokedex and noticed that Nile was holding the Nidoran up by the ears and I chuckled a bit. As it dangled there the pink pokemon tried to swing its arms at Nile, but its reach wasn't far enough and just swung aimlessly. Nile's eyes were half open as he looked at the stout pokemon and yawned.

"So is it trying to bore him to death or something?" Lyra said jokingly.

"I don't know, I wonder if it has any idea how strong Nile really is. Cause Nile can pretty much sweep the floor with him at this point if he wanted." I said as I sat back down on the log.

"Nile you can let him go back to the woods." I added

Nile glanced back at me before he rather rudely tossed the Nidoran back into the bushes and walked back towards us. Before Nile could reach us the stout pokemon was on the attack again, this time tackling Nile in the back while he wasn't looking causing him to stumble.

"Wow he's not giving up." said Lyra as she sat back down as well.

Nile turned to face the Nidoran and hissed like a gator.

"Nile don't hurt the little guy, go easy on him." I said as Nile and the Nidoran started to fight.

"Hmm, let me know when they're done" said Lyra.

She turned around to lay her back on the log and threw her legs across my lap. She then tilted her hat over her eyes before crossing her arms behind her head. I'll be honest when I say that I felt a little nervous by Lyra's sudden action, but I didn't say anything. I glanced back up to see how Nile was doing and I noticed that all of our pokemon were watching the two fight.

The Nidoran charged again and Nile reacted by stepping to the side and sweeping his tail at him. The stout pokemon jumped over the tail and turned skidding across the dirt path. It then charged once more but Nile swiped his hand at the Nidoran grabbing it by the ears again. He then held the pokemon up and gave a rather bored look.

"I think Nile's done." I said nudging Lyra.

She turned her head to the side and lifted her hat to see the Nidoran trying to swipe his hands at Nile.

"What already?" Lyra said.

"Oh wow, he's still going at it, jeez he's tenacious." she added as she shifted back into a sitting position.

"Well I think we should head out now. Nile can you take care of the Nidoran please?" I said getting up.

Nile nodded towards me and looked back at the feisty Nidoran. He then promptly head butted the Nidoran just hard enough to incapacitate it instead of really hurting it. Nile then walked over to the log we were sitting on and laid the unconscious Nidoran on it.

"Okay with that taken care of we can get going." I said getting up from the log and tightening the strap of my backpack.

"Right behind you, come on guys let's go." Lyra said to our pokemon.

Merlin left the tree he was perched in and landed on my shoulder as the rest of us started walking down the path again.

"So Lyra, you have any ideas on what pokemon you want to catch?" I asked as I handed her the pokedex.

"Umm, I was thinking of a bug type or something."

I cocked an eyebrow at her perplexed by what she just said.

"Wait I thought you don't like bugs?"

"I said I didn't like spiders, that doesn't mean I don't like bugs." she said scrolling through pages of pokemon on the dex.

"Besides bugs are considered by many to really cool, so I hoped to get one for the cool category in contests." she added

"Okay that makes sense I guess; anyone in particular?"

"I was thinking of getting a Yanma, I think they're kinda cute." She said giggling to herself.

"Okay, I'll be on the lookout for one." I said looking back down the thin path.

We then came around a bend in the path and saw something rather odd. There was a tree in front of us whose leaves and flowers were all withered and dry and the trunk was swollen around what looked like a hole that was made in it.

"What happened to this tree? It looks like it just died yesterday." Lyra said looking up at the branches that hung over us.

"And what's up with that trunk?" I said pointing at the swollen portion.

"I wonder what caused that." Lyra said taking a closer look.

"Hmm, beats me." I said shrugging.

We stood there examining the tree for a little longer before we got bored and continued on our way. It was a little past lunch now and we were both waiting for something to happen. In my boredom I pulled out my Pokedex and started a game of Tetris, but I was interrupted when I heard a familiar growl. I looked up from the screen of falling polygons and saw the Nidoran from before standing in the middle of the path.

"It's that Nidoran again." Lyra said pointing at the stout pokemon.

"Jeez this guy doesn't know when to quit." I said as I motioned towards Nile.

Nile stepped forward eagerly cracking his knuckles.

"Whoa take it easy there, I know you like to fight but there's no need to be.."

I was suddenly cut short when the Nidoran dashed down the path with incredible speed and rammed into Nile just as he was about to crack the knuckles on his other hand and sent him tumbleing between me and Lyra.

"Holy shit!" I exclaimed as me and Lyra dashed to the sides to avoid Nile crashing into us.

Nile leaned up bewildered by what had just happened. He rubbed dirt off his face and shot up to his feet while hissing again at the Nidoran.

"Oh my god, how'd it do that!?" Lyra said looking at the Nidoran.

Nile dashed towards the stout pokemon and kneed it before he grabbed it by the ears again. The Nidoran looked pissed off that he was being held again by the ears and tried to fail his arms at Nile.

"Does he have any idea how strong Nile is? Why does he keep attacking him?" I said scratching my head.

"Oh I can assure you that he's fully aware of how strong your Croconaw is." said the voice of some girl.

"Huh?" Lyra and I both exclaimed as we turned towards the voice looking down the path.

I was shocked to see the girl in the kimono I saw from earlier was walking down the path towards us. The dress she wore mostly orange with lavish pink and cyan designs sewed into it. Her black hair was up in bun and she had amber colored eyes, her face wore a rather dismal expression, but she looked like she was trying to hide it.

"Look I'm sorry to barge in, my name is Naoko." said the girl as she walked up to us.

"Um hi, I'm Gold and this is Lyra, is that your Nidoran?" I said motioning towards the dangling beast.

"Oh no he's not mine, I just know him. I'm terribly sorry that he's bothering you though." said Naoko apologetically.

"So what's its deal then, you said it was fully aware of Nile's strength, so why is it trying to attack him?" Lyra asked confused.

"Well you see um….it's cause he desperately wants to fight strong foes, if he doesn't he'll never become strong enough to fight Tsar." said Naoko rather dismally.

"Tsar?" I said.

"Who's Tsar?" Lyra added.

"Well um, Tsar is the Nidoking that rules this forest, and that Nidoran there is Tsar's brother."

"Hold on a sec, why would he need to fight his brother?" I said even more confused than before.

"*sigh* it's a long story, if you want to hear it then I need to show you two something before I tell you." Naoko said as the dismal look became more apparent on her face.

"You can just tell us what it is." said Lyra.

"No, this is something you need to see." Naoko said in dismal tone as she turned around and walked down the path.

Considering I was very intrigued to find out what was going on I didn't hesitate to follow. Lyra and the rest of our pokemon promptly followed along with Merlin perched on my shoulder and Nile still holding the Nidoran by the ears. It didn't take long to reach the destination as I saw Naoko standing at the end of the path looking off into the distance.

"Okay Naoko what was it that you needed to..show…" I said as I stopped dead in my tracks.

What lay in front of me was a couple acres of barren land. There were almost no trees left and the soil was black; it looked like a scar had been gouged into the forest. What little plant life that remained was either dead or dying. At first I thought it was a fire, but there wasn't any charcoal or ashes; instead the vegetation looked withered and dry just like the tree we saw before, but only worse. As Lyra walked up from behind she gasped at the sight.

"What happened here?" I asked

"This is Tsar's doing; he used his powerful toxins to destroy this portion of the forest." said Naoko.

"This forest has always been ruled by a Nidoking and queen one after the other, the previous one died recently and he had only two sons, Tsar and that Nidoran there." she said pointing as the every persistent pokemon that Nile was growing tired of holding.

"Tsar has nasty attitude and when it recently found a moonstone and evolved things got worst. Unlike his father, this Nidoking is reckless and a tyrant. That Nidoran has been bullied and beaten by Tsar so much that it swore to become stronger and beat his brother in order to stop the abuse that Tsar dishes out on his family and everything around him."

"Really? That poor pokemon." Lyra said with a rather sad tone.

"Unfortunately if Tsar isn't stopped soon, I fear that more of the forest or even Azalea will fall to his deadly toxins." added Naoko.

Lyra and I stood there looking at the dying portion of forest. I had no idea a pokemon could do something like this. After awhile Naoko turned to us and said.

"Look, I know I just met you two and this is asking a lot, but can I ask for your help in finding and kicking Tsar out before things get worse?"

"Wait you want us to stop it!" Lyra and I both exclaimed.

"Look Tsar only evolved about a week ago, he's still weak compared to a full grown bull Nidoking, and if you two help me now we can stop him before he becomes too strong. Please I'm afraid he'll attack a nearby town soon." she pleaded.

My first instinct was to say no, considering I just saw what Tsar can do. But I couldn't shake that primal urge I have to do the right thing. Perhaps I should go back and tell the police about this, maybe they can…..oh wait…that's right they suck at their jobs. I guess that leaves me with only one option. I looked to my side and saw that Lyra was waiting for my response. I then looked back at Naoko and pushed past my instincts.

"Alright…you can count on me, I'll help you de-throne that tyrant." I said with determination.

"Lyra, you gonna back me up, I could use your help." I added.

She paused for a second before she nodded her head.

"Okay we'll help you, so what should we do?" I asked Naoko.

"First we need to find Tsar."

"Sounds easy enough." I replied.

"What should we do about this Nidoran?" Lyra asked

"He will most likely be joining us, but I fear he won't be of much help." said Naoko.

The Nidoran snorted rather loudly at the kimono girl for implying that he was weak.

"Don't get mad, these two trainers have agreed to help you." said Naoko who walked over and leaned down to talk to the Nidoran.

For the first time since I saw that pink pokemon it finally stopped trying to get at Nile and calmed down. But that determined look never left his eyes as he dangled there; in fact he looked a little pissed off. But seeing as the Nidoran finally gave up on attacking I figured Nile could let go of him.

"Nile you can put him down now." I said scratching his head.

Nile let go of the Nidoran and it plopped to the ground. The Nidoran then turned to sneer at Naoko like it was upset and surprisingly dashed back into the woods.

"Wait, Nidoran come back!" Naoko said worriedly.

"Where's he going?" asked Lyra.

"No, I was afraid this would happen." Naoko said now distressed about him leaving.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"That Nidoran's heart is in the right place, but he's stubborn like his brother, he vowed to defeat Tsar by himself. He must be upset that I asked you two to do it for him. We have to stop him before he does something reckless!" Naoko said as she dashed into the thicket.

Me, Lyra and the rest of our pokemon raced into the woods after her and we were on the lookout for that Nidoran. Unfortunately we lost him even with Merlin flying around high in trees searching for him. When we finally came to halt Naoko dropped to her knees and looked very upset that he got away.

"Oh god please, please don't let him do anything stupid." she said with her hands over her eyes.

"Don't worry we'll stop Tsar before anything happens to him." I said trying to calm her down, but unsure if I could keep that promise.

"Naoko, how do you know so much about that Nidoran and Tsar? It's almost as if you've had conversations with that Nidoran." Lyra asked.

"That's because I have." She replied wiping away a tear.

"Wait what?" I said confused.

"If you two must know, I can talk to pokemon and understand them." She said standing up.

"You can what?!" exclaimed Lyra who was just as shocked as I was.

"Yes it's true; believe it or not, me and my sisters can all talk to pokemon."

"Your sisters?" I asked.

"Look, I know you two have many questions, but now isn't the time. We need to find Tsar and defeat him before that Nidoran get's itself killed." Naoko said sternly.

"Okay but how will we find him?" Lyra asked.

"Tsar has a foul temper and throws a fit almost daily. We just have to listen for his roars and then we can find him. But this won't be easy, all of your pokemon will have to work together in order to stop him."

"But if we defeat him what's going to stop him from coming back?" Lyra asked.

Naoko reached into one of her kimono's sleeves and pulled out a pokeball with a black and yellow design on it.

"Once you two weaken him I'll be able to catch him with this Ultra Ball. Once he's captured I'll bring him back to Ecruteak City, there my sisters can decide what to do with him."

"Okay I'm still a bit confused, but I'll go with it." I said crossing my arms.

"Please follow me we need to hurry. Tsar may be hard to pin point but I know the basic area where he is. Oh I wish there was a faster way, but once we're there we'll have to wait for his temper to reveal where he is. I hope we find him before that Nidoran does."

"Alright lead the way we're right behind you." exclaimed Lyra.

Naoko then took us deep into the forest and along the way we saw several more portions of forest that had been eaten away by Tsar's toxins. I was starting to wonder if what I agreed to was a wise decision. We walked for what felt like an hour and it was starting to get dark out. Out of my boredom I pulled out my pokedex again, I figured I would look up what a Nidoking is considering we were going through all this trouble to fight one. What I found was quite scary.

"Nidoking, the Drill pokemon. Nidokings are the final evolution of male Nidorans, but can only achieve it with the aid of a moonstone. They can grow up to six to seven feet tall and weigh up to three hundred pounds. While most venomous pokemon prefer to let their poisons do the work, Nidokings can just as easily destroy an opponent by just sheer strength along. Coupled with their strength and unrivaled toxins Nidokings are a force to be reckoned with." read the pokedex entry.

"Oh wow, Lyra you should read this." I said handing the dex over to her.

Lyra quickly read the entry and her eyes widened.

"We're going to fight that?!" she exclaimed.

"Don't worry you two, Tsar is still a runt compared to normal Nidoking. If all of us work together we can stop him." said Naoko turning back to look at us.

"Okay if you say so." I said with a hint of doubt as Lyra handed back my pokedex.

"So why are you going through all this trouble to stop this Nidoking anyway?" Lyra asked.

"I was sent here by my sisters to find out who would take over after the last Nidoking died, unfortunately I came too late and the Nidorino Tsar had already found a moonstone." Naoko said

"Your sisters sound pretty important if they look after things like this." I said.

"They are, we take it upon ourselves to watch over the balance of the Johto region."

"Sounds like a tough job." Lyra said picking up her Marill.

"It is sometimes." Naoko said looking down.

"This is it, this is the area where Tsar is normally." Naoko said stopping.

We all stopped in our tracks and I looked around wondering where Tsar might be. I glanced to my side and saw that Lyra had a weary look on her face as she held her Marill in her arms. It's a shame that Marill hates fighting her hail ability might come in handy; but if a pokemon doesn't want to fight I'll never make them do it, something I wish Silver could understand.

"So where is.." Lyra muttered before she was cut off by a deafening roar that made the trees rattle.

We all turned to face the awful sounding noise and it didn't take long for us to figure out who it was.

"That's Tsar, we have to hurry!" Naoko exclaimed as she dashed towards the sound.

"Lyra lets go." I said motioning to her.

We all sprinted through the woods and as we tried to keep up with Naoko. We could hear a large commotion ahead of us that grew louder and louder as we approached the source of the roar.

"What's going on over there?" Lyra said worriedly.

"I don't know, whatever it is it can't be good we need to hurry." I said as we continued to dash through the woods.

We eventually found Naoko standing at the edge of and open pasture. When we ran up to her we saw what she was looking at. Along the edges of the pasture there were hundreds of blue and pink Nidorans that were all hollering like they were the crowd to some sporting event. The pasture was scarred with massive gouges in the dirt and patches of dying grass. As I looked towards the other end of the pasture I saw a Nidoran violently get tossed out from tree line and tumble across the area. It was the same Nidoran from before and it looked banged up.

With only one eye open and the other bruised, the Nidoran struggled to get back up on its feet. My eyes were then drawn towards the tree line again when I heard the footsteps of something large. Suddenly a massive creature broke through the bushes and into the pasture. Standing at roughly five feet tall was a bulky purple pokemon with large ears, massive arms, and spines running down its back, it was Tsar.

"No…we're too late!" uttered Naoko as she held her hands up to face.

"He challenged Tsar." she added with a tear running down her face.

Before I could even react to the situation Tsar let loose a mighty roar as he arched his back and faced the sky to declare his dominance. He then charged with his head held low to point his mighty horn towards the Nidoran who was barely standing. The ground shook with every step he took, but the Nidoran wouldn't run away. Instead the Nidoran charged Tsar with what little strength it had, unafraid of his brother. When the two met Tsar swept his head around and slashed his horn into the Nidoran knocking it off its feet.

"NOOO!" screamed Naoko in horror of had happened.

"Nile, Merlin go and stop that Nidoking!" I yelled motioning my hand to issue my command.

"Teeka you two!" exclaimed Lyra.

Our trio of pokemon rushed forward into the pasture to face the tyrant that stood before us.

"Keep him busy, I have to help that Nidoran!" Naoko pleaded as she dashed into the field to help the pink pokemon.

"Don't worry we'll keep you covered" Lyra exclaimed.

Turning to the side Tsar noticed us along the ridge of the pasture as well as the pokemon that were sent after him. He promptly let loose a powerful roar and charged head first.

"Nile watch out for that horn! Merlin quickly use that shield from before!"

The Nidoking charged Nile as Merlin summoned hundreds of glowing hexagons that formed shields around Teeka, Nile, and himself. The Nidoking lunged forward at Nile as the Croconaw dodged narrowly with its horn sparking off the edge of Nile's shield. But Nile wasn't out of harm's way yet as the Nidoking swung its massive arm around and smashed into the yellow shield shattering it.

"Nile get out of there, keep your distance! Merlin, try putting it to sleep!"

Nile dashed backwards as Merlin swooped past him towards the hulking beast, his eyes glowed white from within his yellow shield as he prepared the hypnosis. But Tsar saw Merlin coming and lurched his head back as purple toxins oozed out of his mouth before snapping his head forward and firing a glob of purple sludge at him.

"Merlin look out!"

But it was too late the sludge made contact with the shield as a horrible sizzling sound echoed over the chants of the Nidorans that surrounded the pasture. Merlin's shield was then shattered as well. Tsar lurched his head back again to ready another sludge bomb.

"Nile stop him before Merlin gets hit!" I ordered frantically.

I looked to the side and saw Nile rush forward and tackle the Nidoking ruining its concentration and causing a miss fire that landed over in patch of grass dissolving it in seconds. The Nidoking then swept around and tried to drive his spiked elbow down into Nile.

"Nile, get back quickly!"

"And Teeka use thunder shock!" Lyra exclaimed pointing at the massive beast.

Heeding to Lyra's command Teeka rushed forward to cover Nile's escape. Her wool sparked as the bolt of electricity arced across the air and zapped the Nidoking. But nothing happened to Tsar. In fact the Nidoking just cackled at the Mareep as remnants of purple sludge oozed out of the cackling maw.

"Lyra, Gold, be careful Tsar is part Ground type and he's immune to electricity!" Naoko yelled from across the pasture holding the wounded Nidoran in her arms.

"What?!" Lyra and I both exclaimed.

"Teeka run!" Lyra yelled fearfully.

Tsar let loose a mighty roar as he readied to attack Teeka. The Mareep was petrified with fear and couldn't move.

"Nile save Teeka!"

Nile growled loudly as he rushed in to save Teeka but was stopped when the Nidoking swept its mighty tail around and smashed into the Croconaw throwing him aside. Tsar then charged Teeka with no one to stop him.

"Teeka!" Lyra screamed.

Then out of the corner of my eye I saw the Nidoran jump away from Naoko arms and rushed forward with lightning speed straight for Teeka. The stout pokemon then grabbed the terrified Mareep and rolled out of the way as Tsar rushed past them narrowly missing them. We all gasped at the sudden actions of the Nidoran who started to run back towards us with Teeka following him. But Tsar quickly turned around to charge the two once more.

"Nile, Merlin, stop him!" I ordered.

Nile ran up from behind and grabbed a hold of Tsar's tail and dug his heels into the ground. The Nidoking was stopped for moment as he looked behind him to see the Croconaw. Before Tsar could react Merlin swooped in and pecked at the Nidoking's face. With Tsar occupied Teeka and the Nidoran reached Lyra who grabbed a hold of her Mareep.

"Teeka thank god you're okay." she said bringing Teeka up to her face and hugging tightly.

"Nile use water gun and Merlin create another shield!"

Nile dashed backwards inhaling deeply and unleashed the powerful jet of water. Tsar was distracted by Merlin who was pecking away at his face and was struck by the water gun full force. It's a good thing that I learned that Tsar was a ground type making Nile's typing perfect against him.

The mighty beast recoiled back as Merlin summoned the myriad of yellow hexagons that engulfed my team with protective shells.

"Nile, Merlin's got you covered go and use scratch!" I said seeing that Tsar was dazed.

Nile rushed forward and roared loudly as he threw his fist back ready to punch Tsar. Then suddenly a hazy aura of light blue mist swirled around Niles scarred arm and ice started to form around his fist. He then jumped forward and socked Tsar across the jaw leaving behind hunks of ice that froze to Tsar's face. The Nidoking recoiled in pain as it tried the claw the bits of ice off his jaw.

"What the heck was that!?" Lyra exclaimed seeing Nile's new power.

"That's ice punch! Gold, ice is super effective on ground and that move is more powerful than water gun, tell Nile to keep using it!" Naoko hollered from the other side of the field.

"Got it! Nile you heard her, keep using ice punch!"

Nile nodded as he threw his fists to the sides and they were quickly encased in ice as the frigid light blue mist swirled around his arms. The Nidoking recovering from Nile's last attack roared defiantly towards the Croconaw and stampeded towards him. The two sluggers went at it as each one threw their fists at the other. Nile, being shorter than his foe, was able to bob and weave around most of Tsar's attacks, but Tsar was able to land a hit and shatter Nile's shield. But Nile as fast and he landed a punch in retaliation causing the Nidoking to lurch backwards and holler painfully. Nile then jumped up to deliver the next blow, but Tsar wouldn't stand for it.

Roaring loudly Tsar threw his arm forward snatching Nile out of the air and dug his claws in around Nile's head. Nile yelled in pain as the ice dispersed from his fists and he tried to pry the hand off him but wasn't strong enough.

"Nile!" Lyra and I exclaimed in horror.

Merlin dove in to help Nile and tried to peck at the Nidoking. Tsar promptly swung his other arm around destroying both Merlin's shield and sending him flying into a tree. Tsar returning his focus on the squirming reptile in his hand roared loudly as he threw Nile into the ground and quickly stomped on him causing the ground to shake. Over and over again Tsar stomped Nile into the ground as the will was beaten out of him.

"Nile get out of there!" I yelled.

But Nile couldn't move try as he might. Suddenly the Nidoran by my side rushed forward and in the blink of an eye was charging Tsar head on.

"Nidoran don't!" Naoko yelled.

But the stout pokemon wouldn't listen and while Tsar wasn't looking he tackled into side of the massive beast. Miraculously, Tsar was actually thrown off balance for moment by the Nidoran and halted his attacks on Nile.

I was shocked by what this little pokemon just did. Where did this strength come from?

Tsar angered by his little brother swung his tail around to attack the Nidoran. The stout pokemon as smashed aside and tumbled along the pasture as Tsar returned his focus on Nile. But the stout pokemon jumped to its feet and charged again. Tsar noticing this swept his tail around once more. But the Nidoran jumped onto his brother's tail and ran along it jumping onto Tsar's back. The Nidoking clawed away at his back trying to get his bother off him. Meanwhile me, Lyra, and Naoko were all standing in awe of what this little pokemon was doing.

The Nidoran then bit into Tsar's back causing the tyrant to holler in pain. The Nidoking then dashed backwards and tried to smash the Nidoran against a nearby tree.

"Look out!" Naoko yelled.

Before the Nidoking could crush his brother the stout pokemon jumped off his back and Tsar smashed into the tree. The tree snapped at the base and toppled on top of Tsar. Naoko yelped as she dashed out of the way of the falling tree to avoid being crushed. Once the whole thing came down there was a silence and no one dared to move.

I looked at the tree and wondered if Tsar was defeated. To my dismay the tree was lifted upward and Tsar shoved it aside looking for his brother. The beaten and bruised pokemon stood before his massive sibling and wouldn't back down. Tsar let loose another roar at his brother as toxins spewed from his mouth. But the Nidoran was unfazed and stamped his foot and roared loudly as well. But the roar of defiance was cut short as the Nidoran fell to its knees. The Nidoking seeing his brother's weakness cackled once more. The crowd of Nidorans the surrounded the pasture either willingly or out of fear joined Tsar in his mad cackle. I felt powerless to help the pokmon that lied there beaten and bruised.

In the midst of Tsar's maniacal laughter the Nidoran struggled to get back up on his feet but fell again. This prompted Tsar to cackle even more as he walked over this his sibling and reared his leg up ready to stomp the life out of him.

"NNOOO!" Naoko screamed as she fell to her knees.

Then just as Tsar was about to crush his brother he hesitated when it saw something odd. I looked at the Nidoran and saw that same glowing haze that Nile gave off when he evolved. The haze began to glow brighter and brighter as the Nidoran got back up on its feet. Tsar took a step back bewildered by what was happening.

"He's evolving?" I said under my breath.

"He's evolving!" I said louder now.

All three of us now stared in awe as the Nidoran's body was quickly engulfed by a glowing light as he grew larger and more robust. The horn on his head became more pronounced and his ears became more swept back. His snout elongated and his leges became beefier. Once fully formed the new pokemon resembled a rhino and his eyes were dead set on Tsar. I glanced to the side when I saw Nile was getting back up from the ground.

"Nile, hold out just a bit longer that Nidorino needs your help!" I said pointing towards the newly evolved pokemon.

Nile although very banged up nodded his head to me and encased his fists in ice once more. The duo charged at Tsar who in turn stampeded towards them. The tyrant's brother rushed forward and dove under the Nidoking's sweeping arm and rammed into Tsar's gut knocking the wind out of him. Nile then followed up by jumping up and nailed Tsar with a frozen uppercut to the jaw. With Tsar off balance his sibling rammed once again with all its might into the tyrant knocking him unto his back. Nile then jumped on top of Tsar and unleashed a flurry of ice punches into the tyrant's body before jumping back off.

For several moments no one said anything as we all waited for Tsar to move. His sibling along with Nile stood ready for the tyrant to rise again. But he didn't budge; he was out cold. Everyone let out a collective sigh of relief as Nile and the tyrant's sibling both collapsed in exhausted heaps. All three of us rushed forward to the fainted pokemon, I went to check on Nile and the little brother while Lyra went to check on Merlin. Naoko walked up to the massive pokemon that lied unconscious before her.

"Tsar, I'm sorry, but you have to be put under control."

She reached for the Ultra Ball from within her sleeve and she tossed it into the air. A red light shot out from the ball and captured the Nidoking inside. It rolled a few times and clicked.

"Thank god." Naoko said lightly as she reached for the pokeball.

I was tending to a few wounds on Nile with medicine from my bag and then I returned him as Naoko walked over to me and Lyra.

"Gold, Lyra, I can't thank you two enough for what you did." she said.

"Sure no problem, I'm glad we could help. Even though that fight was way too close for comfort." I responded.

"No, I'm serious here, I wish I could do something to show you two my gratitude." she said rather sheepishly.

"Don't worry about it, you don't need to thank us." Lyra said while holding Merlin in her arms.

"You're sure?"

"Positive."

I looked to my side and saw the Nidorino start to get back up on its feet.

"So what's going to happen to him?" I said pointing to the tyrant's sibling.

"I don't know, I'll ask him." said Naoko who kneeled down to talk to the newly evolved pokemon.

The pokemon looked up at Naoko and grumbled something to her and looked back at me for a moment before looking back at her.

"He says that he wants to go with you." Naoko said as she stood back up.

"What?" I responded.

"He said that he wants to get stronger like Nile and he thinks that you're the only person who can do that for him." Naoko said smiling.

"Hey, it looks like you found your next pokemon after all." Lyra said rather excitedly.

"We'll after what I just saw him do, how could I refuse." I said looking at the pink pokemon.

The pokemon gave me rather slight but defiantly happy look.

"So do you I have to battle you, or are you just gonna let me catch you cause I've got no one fight you." I said rather jokingly.

The little brother shook his head letting me know he was fine with being caught.

"Thanks, before I catch you you're going to need a name though."

"You can call him Duke." Lyra suggested.

"Duke huh, I like it. What do you say?" I said looking towards Duke.

He tilted his head to me and murmured something.

"He likes it." Naoko said scratching Dukes ears.

"Alright then, well here's your new pokeball Duke." I said digging into my bag for a spare.

Once I found one I tossed it at him. The following red light sucked him in and fell to the ground rolling a few times before it clicked.

"Well I should get going, thank you again for helping me capture Tsar and I wish the two of you the best of luck on you travels." Naoko said bowing to us.

Lyra and I bowed back before she waved goodbye and disappeared into the woods.

"Well Gold, now that's over with we should set up tent soon *Yawn*" Lyra said as she rubbed her eyes.

"Don't forget tomorrow you have to help me catch a pokemon too, so don't sleep late okay." she added.

"*Yawn* alright. I'll get the tent started."

I got out our tent and we started to set up it up. Our tent is rather small even though Lyra and I still have to pack it in two halves, one in each other's bag so it doesn't take up too much space. It's funny how organized we are, in fact Lyra and I used to joke about how much stuff we can fit in our bags when we would go out on our '_adventures'._ Even though we never got that far considering our moms would always hunt us down before we got anywhere. Which then led to me getting grounded; followed by me hating Lyra the next day, only to be dragged into it again by the end of the week thanks to her charm. About half way through setting up the tent Lyra asked me something.

"Hey Gold?"

"Yeah?" I said looking back at her.

"Can we…make a fire tonight?" she said rather timidly.

"Um sure, I'll get started on that."

"Thanks." She said smiling at me.

* * *

**Now then I may have fudged the proportions of Nidokings a bit, but come on, a 4 foot 7 dinosaur that weighs only 137 pounds isn't that scary. Hell I could bench press a Nidoking if I wanted to, that's sad considering they're strong enough to cause earthquakes. So I made them grow up to 7 feet tall cause that's how I imagine them to be. **

**So I had a lot of free time and I was able to get this chapter out sooner. Hope you enjoyed it.**


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12: Lyra's Shining Luck.

I was awoken by the sound of something moving quickly outside of the tent. Unsure of what it was I sluggishly got up and rubbed my eyes to see clearer. I looked to the side and saw Gold was still asleep on his side of the tent with his hat covering his eyes and using his bag as a pillow. I wondered what time it was as I leaned up to look out one of the netted widows in the tent. When I looked outside I could hear a buzzing sound and I saw a red blur rush by.

"What was that?" I said quietly as I leaned closer to pear out the sides of the view port.

Whatever it was, it was defiantly a pokemon. In fact it was kind of like the Yanma I saw back at Bugsy's gym. Excited by the possibility I went over the wake up Gold.

"Hey Gold wake up, I think there's a Yanma outside." I said tugging on his sweatshirt.

"ZZZZZZ."

I could feel myself frowning as I looked down at my sleepy friend. Gold is so inconsistent in his sleeping habits; sometimes the littlest thing will wake him up, while other times nothing short of a bucket of water over his head will get the guy to budge. The latter of which I've done to him several times actually. But seeing as I lacked a bucket and didn't feel like messing with him right now I decided to let him sleep.

I then saw the red blur out of the corner of my eye again and looked out the netted window and had my suspicions confirmed. I was delighted to see a Yanma land near the fire pit Gold made last night. It began to meticulously groom its four wings using its tail and front legs. Unsure if I was going to get another chance to catch a Yanma I quickly reached for my bag and then quietly crawled out of the tent so I didn't scare the dragonfly away. I then kneeled down and nudged Teeka who was sleeping next to the tent to get her up.

"Teeka, I need your help, we're going to catch that Yanma over there." I whispered as I pointed out the Yanma to my adorable Mareep.

Teeka hummed quietly to herself as she got up to her feet and we both started to quietly move towards the Yanma who was still grooming its wings. Just before we were within a good attacking range I accidently stepped on a twig causing it to snap.

"Oh shoot." I whispered as the Yanma turned its head and noticed me and Teeka.

The red dragonfly instantly took off and zipped into the woods.

"Oh no you don't, Teeka lets go." I said enthusiastically as me and Teeka ran after the Yanma.

I was determined; I wasn't going to let this Yanma get away. This was probably going to be the only chance I have at catching one too, because Gold's pokedex said they're pretty rare around here. After entering the tree line I saw the Yanma hovering over thin dirt path.

"Teeka use thunder wave." I said pointing towards it.

My Mareep dashed forward as pulse of electricity shot out from her wool. Unfortunately the Yanma was faster than I thought and easily avoided the pulse of static.

"Wow, Bugsy wasn't kidding when he said these things are fast. Teeka keep trying!"

Teeka's wool sparked once more and unleashed more static pulses into the air. But the Yanma darted around the attacks like it was child's play. In fact I think it was snickering at me as Teeka failed to connect any of her attacks. I was starting to get frustrated and wished Gold was here to help me out. But if I went back to get him the Yanma would defiantly get away. No, I had to do this myself.

I looked back up to see the red dragonfly in the midst of its dodging, quickly zip around an incoming pulse and charged Teeka head on.

"Teeka look out, use cotton guard!"

The Mareep receded into its wool coat, but the attack was a fake out and the Yanma used this opportunity to dart away back into the woods.

"No, come back! Teeka come on we have to hurry!" I said motioning towards my pokemon.

I dashed once again through the forest with Teeka right behind me. I've spent a lot of time outdoors and navigating the various bushes and undergrowth was easy, but the Yanma seemed to notice this and started to fly through areas with thicker foliage and even thorn bushes. Damn this Yanma is playing dirty! I wanted to avoid the obstacles in my way but if I did I would lose track of the dragonfly.

"No, I'm not going to lose you!" I sneered as I felt the thorn bushes scratch at my arms and legs.

While we chased the Yanma through the woods the dragonfly finally took its eyes off me and was more focused on where it was going. Seeing this I figured it was the perfect time to strike.

"Teeka use thunder sho.." I stopped in my tracks when I noticed Teeka's wool was caught in the thorns.

Teeka meeped as she struggled to escape the bushes that ensnared her.

"Ah come on really?!" I exclaimed as I turned to help untangle Teeka.

As I aided my Mareep I looked over my shoulder and saw the Yanma snicker at me before it flew off. I clenched my fist frustrated that my only opportunity to catch a Yanma just flew away.

"Damn it, *sigh* great it got away." I said dismally.

"Jeez Teeka come on I almost had it." I said giving my Mareep a disappointed look.

Teeka looked upset that she let me down and I felt bad for blaming her.

"*sigh* I'm sorry, it's not your fault." I said as I freed my Mareep from the thorns.

I scratched her chin and she nuzzled my hand. Despite her cute affections I felt disappointed in myself; I couldn't believe it got away. I guess I should head back to the tent now, I wonder if Gold is up yet. If he is he'll probably need me to help him take down the tent. Or…I think I'll manipulate him to do it all of it for me. Oh I can already think of several ways to make him do it too.

I snickered at the thought of working Gold like a puppet as me and Teeka trekked our way back. Despite how easily manipulative he is though, I have to say he's changed a lot since we left New Bark. He's become a lot bolder now and he's done some pretty amazing things too. I knew Gold always wanted to be a great trainer, but I never thought he would get so strong so quickly. Nile, Merlin, and even his newest one Duke are all really tough and Gold knows how to make them fight at their full potentials too. For being such a shy guy he's actually quite amazing. It's times like these where I'm really glad that he's my friend.

My only friend…

I felt myself frown after that last thought, because I was reminded about the fact that I let the whole notion about him being my only friend slip out. Oh god that was so embarrassing I wish I'd never said that. I know that Gold thinks I'm very confident and sociable, but he would be shocked if he knew the truth.

The reality is that I used to be extremely self conscious and rather shy too. I was like that because all kids back at my old town would never hang out with me because they thought I was weird, and it's always been that way until I moved to New Bark and met him. I've just never shown him my timid side because of some reason that I don't quite understand. It's just that whenever he's around I feel unafraid to express myself. Hell, I doubt that I could've even performed in that contest if I didn't know Gold was in the audience.

Well now that I think about it, Gold never asked me about what I said, maybe he didn't hear me. Oh I hope he didn't, because I'd rather not talk about my lack of friends with him and just leave it at that. As my thoughts continued on that subject I noticed that I still had a ways to go before I reached the tent; that Yanma took me out pretty far. Maybe I should take this time to call my grandparents and let them know me and Gold were going to stop by for a visit. I dug through my bag and grabbed my cell phone and scrolled through my contacts. I noticed that I had a very low battery, but I was pretty sure I had enough for one call.

"Teeka let's wait for sec, I need to call my grandparents ok." I said as I walked to the side of the trail and started the call.

As the phone rang Teeka walked up and rubbed against my legs and I could feel little sparks of static that tickled a little.

"Hello?" said my Grandfather as he picked up the phone.

"Hi Grandpa, it's me." I said cheerfully.

"Oh good morning Lyra, this is a pleasant surprise. How are you doing sweetie?"

"I'm doing fine thanks."

"I heard from your mom that you're participating in pokemon contests now, so how's that going?"

"Oh I won a ribbon at Violet City with my Marill." I said with pride.

"Oh that's great sweetie I knew you could do it, I'm so proud of you."

"Thanks Grandpa, anyway I called to let you know I'm on my way to Goldenrod with a friend and I was going to stop by the day care for a visit."

"Oh that would be wonderful, I didn't know you were traveling with a friend. What's her name?"

"Um actually…my friend's a guy… his name is Gold." I said a little embarrassed that I had to clarify that.

"Oh it's a boy huh, so is he your boyfriend?" he said in a rather coy tone.

"My what?! No, no he's just my friend." I said franticly as I felt my face blush at the thought.

"*chuckle* oh my bad, it's just that you're at that age now and I thought that," he said before I cut him off.

"Look I'm telling you he's just my friend!" I said a bit irritated.

"Alright, alright if you say so. *chuckle* So when do you think you two will get here?"

"*sigh* I don't know, me and Gold are trying to catch one more pokemon before we head out."

"Well don't take too long, your Grandmother and I would love to meet your friend."

"Okay thanks Grandpa, see ya."

"Bye sweetie."

"Bye." I said as I ended the call and put my phone away.

Gold as my boyfriend? That would just be weird; no he's just my friend.

"Jeez, Grandpa you're so silly." I muttered to myself as I made my way around a bend in the path.

"Wait, this doesn't look right." I said as I noticed the unfamiliar surroundings.

Teeka looked around as well and she looked confused too.

"I think I just made a wrong turn a bit further back, Teeka lets head back." I said turning around with Teeka skipping by my side.

As we walked I felt my legs and arms starting to get itchy from the scratches. I think Gold has some antiseptic on him; I should use some of it when I get back and…

"Okay this is defiantly not right." I said a bit concerned.

This path looked nothing like the one I ran along when I chased the Yanma. How did I get lost so easily? I mean I went in relatively straight line when I ran after that pokemon, I think. Okay maybe I can use the sun to get my bearings. I looked up and noticed the sun was rising off to my left so that means that way was east. Now I just have to remember which way the sun was raising back at the tent and…

"But wait…which way was that?" I said as I failed to recall the sun's position earlier.

I felt myself panic for a second not knowing what to do, but then I remembered that I could just call Gold and have him come and find me. So I pulled out my phone and scrolled through the contacts, but just as I was about to make the call my phone died on me.

"Oh my god! No, not now!" I said frustrated as I put my phone back.

"Teeka, you wouldn't happen to know how to get back?" I said kneeling down to scratch my Mareep's ears.

Sadly she shook her said saying no.

"Great, now what do I do?" I said worried.

I felt panic starting to set in again and I was clueless as to where I was. Okay I need to think this through and stop getting worked up. I know Gold would never leave without me, plus it's been awhile since I left the tent and it's rather bright out now so he's probably looking for me. Besides, I'm probably near the tent anyway so I should just stay put till he finds me.

"*sigh* Well Teeka, looks like we're going to have to stay here till Gold finds us." I said as I slumped to the ground and crossed my legs.

Teeka walked over and curled up in my lap. I started to stroke her wool and felt static arc across my fingers. It's a neat feeling when you pet a Mareep, because instead of hurting like most static shocks do, it actually feels kind of tinglely, in a good way.

I sat there for what felt like ten or so minutes and I was starting to get worried that I couldn't hear Gold calling for me. Where the hell is he? He is looking for me, right? Did he even wake up yet? Or am I much farther from the tent than I originally thought?

As I wondered about my situation I noticed that I felt rather parched and hungry. Gold and I were going to get food today when reached Goldenrod, but now I'm feeling really hungry and my stomach growled angrily at me.

Seeing as I couldn't do anything else I got up to walk around a bit and try to fight off my feeling of hunger. Teeka looked up at me and had a concerned look on her face.

"Don't worry Teeka, we'll be fine. Gold's going to find us soon." I hoped.

After I uttered those words I heard a low growling sound followed by several loud crashing footsteps. I gulped after hearing that and felt my legs start to shake.

"What was that?" I said fearfully.

The crashing sound was heading towards me and was growing louder and louder.

"Teeka get ready something's coming." I said bracing myself for what might come out of the undergrowth.

The sounds of breaking sticks and bushes being toppled over where drawing closer; whatever's in there was huge! Oh god is it another Nidoking?! What am I going to do?!

I prepared myself to run at a moments notice, if this was another Nidoking then Teeka could do nothing to stop it. Then out of the bushes came not the massive creature I imagined, but instead a small teddy bear like pokemon with crescent moon symbol on its forehead. It looked up at me as it held its finger up to its mouth in rather cute way.

"Oh phew, it's just a Teddiursa?" I said as I breathed a sigh of relief.

"Jeez, you nearly gave me a heart attack. So what's a little guy like you doing out here?" I said in friendly voice as I walked up to the little bear.

As I stepped closer the Teddiursa looked a little scared and stumbled backwards; unfortunately banging its head on a rock. It held its paws up to its head starting crying.

"Oh I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to scare you. Are you okay?" I said as I kneeled down to help the poor thing.

But before I try to calm down the little pokemon the area around me got dark. I glanced to the side and saw a shadow that outlined a large creature looming behind. I slowly turned around and saw massive bear like pokemon with a ring pattern on its gut, and it wasn't happy. I trembled at the sight of this Ursaring that loomed over me and it started to growl angrily bearing its teeth.

I screamed as the massive bear tried to sweep its arm at me. I dived out of the way and avoided the attack narrowly. As I glanced up from the ground I saw the Ursaring rear its arm back to swipe at me again when Teeka zapped the massive bear with thunder shock. The Ursaring grimaced as it turned around to focus on Teeka.

"Teeka look out use cotton guard quickly!" I yelled as I leaned up from the ground

Teeka quickly receded into her wool as the paw swiped her round form aside and into a thorn bush. Teeka poked her limbs out but meeped fearfully for she was stuck in thorns. Seeing this opportunity the Ursaring pummeled Teeka who was unable to escape.

"No Teeka!" I said as I reached for Marill's pokeball.

"I'm sorry to make you do this Marill, but I need your help please just this once." I said as I released my first pokemon.

Marill came out in flash of light and was shocked to find the situation she was in.

"Marill please help Teeka!" I screamed seeing Teeka getting pummeled.

Hearing my command the Ursaring turned to face the blue pokemon and roared loudly. Marill froze up and couldn't move, she was terrified of the pokemon in front of her.

"Marill please, I know your scared but if you don't help we're going to die!" I pleaded with her.

But Marill wouldn't budge she was too scared of the imposing pokemon before her. The Ursaring charged forward and kneed Marill sending her tumbling past me. When she landed my heart sank when she wasn't moving. I instantly shot up to my feet to grab my fainted Marill.

I had to run somewhere, but where!? This Ursaing would out run me for sure! I looked around franticly for any where I could escape. Then I saw a tree that looked easy enough to climb. That's it, I had to get up that tree! I ran to the side of the trail and climbed as fast as I could, unfortunately I had to hold Marill in one of my arms and was slowed down. I didn't want to look but I could hear the Ursaring breaking the braches that were below me as it tried to grab me.

Once I climbed about twenty feet up I stopped on a branch and looked down at the bear pokemon that was attempting to get up the tree but was failing. In anger the pokemon roared loudly at me and I curled up next to tree trunk trembling in fear. Oh god what do I do now!?

"Someone help me!" I screamed.

But then I remembered that Teeka was still down there. I quickly reached inside my bag and found her pokeball. I then pointed it towards my Mareep on the ground and returned her. But now it was just me and Marill and the Ursaring was hacking away at the tree trunk.

As I looked down at the rampaging pokemon I heard something buzzing over my head. Before I could look up to see what it was I felt something land on top of my hat as air rushed past my neck. Whatever it was it had six legs and weighed only a few pounds. I glanced up and saw the cute eyes of a Yanma looking down at me. But it looked different though, instead of red the dragonfly was blue. Wait…is this…

"A…shiny?" I muttered before I was shaken by the Ursaring's attack on the tree.

The dragonfly on top of my head looked at the bear below and then back at me before tilting its head. After a second or two it flew off my hat and dashed into the woods.

"Wait! Come back don't leave me.." I pleaded before the Ursaring slammed into the tree below and I almost lost my grip.

I whimpered as the massive bear pokemon smashed against the tree over and over again.

"Help me! Someone please!" I screamed.

But no one came and I felt the tree start to crack and splinter. I squeezed my Marill and prayed for someone to save me as tears ran down my face. Then I heard a sharp whistling sound off to my right. I looked to the side and saw the blue Yanma from before and it whistled again looking off somewhere and then it flew away. What the hell is it doing?

But then I saw someone come out of undergrowth where the Yanma was looking, it was Gold! He turned his head and saw me in the tree with the Ursaring below me and his eyes widened.

"Lyra!?" Gold yelled as Duke came out of the bushes from behind him.

In response to Gold's outcry the Ursaring turned away from the tree and glared at him.

"Get the hell away from her! Duke use double kick!" he yelled defiantly as Duke charged the massive bear pokemon.

Gold's Nidorino dashed along the forest floor and upon reaching the Ursaring he jumped up and drop kicked the pokemon in its side. The bear pokemon lurched backward and held its side as it grunted painfully. Duke followed up with a serious of tackles driving the Ursaring away from the tree. Gold then quickly ran up towards the two to issue his next command.

"Duke use double kick again and follow up with sludge!"

The Urasing in an attempt to stop the Nidorino threw its arms up ready to smash Duke. Before it could attack though, Duke quickly turned around pivoting on his front legs and kicked his back legs into the Ursaring's gut knocking the wind out of it. Then using the momentum of his kick pivoted back around to face the bear pokemon head on and pelted it with small globs of purple sludge.

Duke continued to dish out attack after attack until the Ursaring finally gave up and receded back into the woods along with its Teddiursa. Gold relaxed a bit and as the pokemon left and then turned to look up at me.

"Lyra, are you okay? Where are your pokemon, are they hurt?" he said franticly in a concerned tone.

"Marill is with me, and I have Teeka in her pokeball but she's hurt." I said breathing heavily.

"What about you?" he said.

"I'm..I'm fine" I said as I started to calm down

Seeing as everything was under control I reached in my bag and returned Marill. But as I did that I noticed that all the branches I used to get up the tree were broken and gone. If I was going to get down I would have to jump over fifteen feet or so.

"Gold I..I can't get down, the branches are gone." I said as I descended to the lowest branch that remained.

"If you can't get down, then I guess I'll just have to catch you." he said with a slight grin on his face.

"What?!"

"What, you don't trust me?"

"No…it's n..not that I..I..I just." I said stuttering.

I knew it was only a fifteen foot drop, but that didn't stop my head from over exaggerating what it felt like. I have a fear of heights and I regretted that I even climbed up this thing in the first place.

"Uh…um...can't you get a ladder or something?" I said afraid of how high up I was.

"A ladder, really? In the middle of the woods." Gold replied to my rather stupid request.

"Look I..I just don't want to fall okay!" I retorted.

"Lyra you nearly gave me a heart attack when I couldn't find you earlier. The least you could do is trust me on this. I'll catch you don't worry." he said getting his arms ready for me to drop.

"I..I can't, what if you miss?" I said closing my eyes

"I told you I won't." he replied.

"I…I…I just can't." I cried.

"Jeez, you like a ten year old." he muttered softly to himself.

"Hey I heard that! I'm not a ten year old!" I barked at him.

"Then can you please just jump already? You have to come down one way or another."

"Okay fine, I'll jump you jerk!" I said as I started to lower myself from the branch I was standing on.

"I swear to god if you don't catch me I'm going to kill you Gold." I said as I dangled from the branch ready to let go.

"I'm going to catch you, now come on." he said impatiently.

"Okay….here I go." I said as I closed my eyes.

But I didn't let go, my hands were practically glued to the branch.

"Any-day now." said Gold.

"Shut up!" I barked at him.

"Just let go, you'll be fine."

"Easy for you to say! Ugh, fine!" I said as I closed my eyes again and took a deep breath and let go of the branch.

As I fell I could feel the air rush past me and I braced myself for the worst as my stomach dropped and I tensed up. Then I felt Gold catch me in his arms. He didn't even have to bend over or struggle to hold me up; he just caught me like I was weightless. When I opened my eyes to see I saw him looking down at me with his vibrant golden eyes as he cradled me in his arms.

"I told you I'd catch ya." He said grinning

"Um…th..thanks." I said timidly.

After that statement we both just stayed quiet for few moments. Oh shit this is awkward. Why does this keep happening to me? Why do I keep finding myself in his arms? Oh god I could feel my cheeks starting to blush.

"Here let me put you down." Gold said as he stood me up on my feet.

I breathed I sigh of relief that he didn't see my cheeks and I was able to quickly hide it. As I was recovering from that awkward moment I just had, I thought of something and I turned to look at Gold.

"Gold, how did you find me?" I asked.

Before he could answer I heard that buzzing sound again and something landed on top of my hat. I glanced up and saw the blue Yanma again.

"You can thank him." Gold said pointing towards the pokemon on top of my head.

"I was looking for you when this guy came out of nowhere and harassed me to follow it, then I found you." he said.

"Wait…you mean…you went and got him?" I said looking up at the shiny pokemon.

The blue Yanma nodded its head.

"Th..thank you." I said as the Yanma hummed pleasantly to itself.

"I think he likes you. I'm so jealous." Gold said.

"You do?" I asked the Yanma.

It gave me a cute smile as it fluttered its wings happily.

"You gonna name him?" Gold asked

"I'm not sure, what should I call him?"

"How about Drake? He is a dragonfly after all, a shiny one too." Gold suggested.

"Drake huh, I like it." I said as I reached up to scratch the top of Drake's head.

"Well now that you're single handedly the luckiest girl in the world for finding a shiny pokemon, I think it's time we get out of this forest." Gold said as he motioned for Duke to come over to him.

"Seeing as you now have three awesome pokemon to help you perform." he added.

I nodded my head and we both made our way out of the forest. Before we finally left Ilex I thought about something that Gold said. He said I was lucky. Well he's right about that, but in more ways than he knows. Because I'm lucky that he's my friend.

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**So this story will now contain some chapter's from other character's perspectives like Lyra and even Silver at some point. But for the most part it's Gold's journey so it will focus mainly on him.**

**Once again hope you enjoy the story and review/follow if you want.**


	13. Chapter 13

**Sorry for delay I've been suffering from...WRITERS BLOCK! Like seriously I rewrote this chapter like 5 times. Anyway hope you like it and that I didn't leave any stupid mistakes.(drives me nutz when I find mistakes) **

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Chapter 13: Daycare.

I was relieved to see that the final stretch of Ilex laid before us and I could finally get out of here. This place had too many close calls for comfort and Lyra almost got hurt. I'd hate to think what would have happened to her if that shinny Yanma hadn't shown up. In fact, just thinking about the odds that weighed into what had just happened scare me.

As we were walking Lyra told me about how she wound up in that predicament and I felt guilty knowing that it could have been avoided if I had just woken up. I was so worried when I woke up and she was no where to be found, and when I found her being attacked by that Ursaring my heart nearly stopped. Lyra's pokemon were bad condition when I saved her, but luckily I had some medicine on me and her pokemon are all. Knowing that everything was alright Lyra was having fun with Drake who was flying around her head as the two exchanged funny faces.

As I watched those two enjoying themselves I wondered what kind of attacks or techniques Drake knows; what with the upcoming contest's she'll be participating in.

"Hey Lyra?" I asked.

"Yeah." she responded turning around with Drake on top of her hat.

"Maybe we should find out what Drake can do? I mean we're on our way to the second largest contest hall in Johto, so you should probably get all the ideas you can now before you have to perform."

"Oh you're right I almost forgot, I need to work on some routines." She said realizing she had a lot of work to do.

"So Drake you heard him show us what you can do." she said glancing up at the dragonfly on top of her head.

Drake nodded his head as it took off from her hat and flew a couple yards out in front of us. We both stopped in our tracks to watch the turquoise pokemon perform his moves.

"Okay Drake show us what'cha got." Lyra said enthusiastically as the insect nodded his head.

Drake's body suddenly began to vibrate intensely as clone after clone began to surround us in a spinning ring. They then dispersed and flew around the various trees around us. Lyra and I spun around in place as we tried to track the twenty or so blue Yanma clones that flew around us bobbing and weaving around trees.

"Ah cool, he knows double team." I said looking around.

I turned to see what Lyra was going to say, but I saw that her eyes were lit up with joy. It looked like she had a million ideas running around inside of her head.

"You look inspired." I said.

"Oh trust me I am. I can already think of so many things I can do with this." she said excitedly.

"Okay, Drake show us what else you can do." she said signaling Drake with her hand.

The clones all simultaneously nodded their heads as they all flew into one another until they all came back into a single one. Hovering over the trail, the blue Yanma looked around for few seconds until it found a large rock near the side of the path. As he looked at the rock he appeared to be prepping himself to do something.

"Hmmm, what's he doing?" I said tilting my head.

"I dunno, maybe he's going to move the rock or something?" Lyra replied.

Then Drake's four wings began to vibrate and flutter at great speeds causing a loud buzzing sound to echo across the area. This continued for a few moments until finally a loud crack rang out from Drake as a hunk of the rock it was looking at broke off.

"Whoa that was freaking cool!" Lyra exclaimed practically jumping up and down.

Drake turned his head to look at Lyra and grinned as I stood there in awe of what this fragile looking insect was capable of.

"Oh I wonder that move is called? Gold look it up for me." she said enthusiastically as she tugged on my sleeve.

"Sure gimme a sec." I said as I pulled out the pokedex.

After scrolling through the section on Yanmas I said, "Okay, it's called sonic boom, it's an attack that forms when a Yanma flaps its wings at supersonic speeds causing a shock wave."

"Wow really, that's awesome!" Lyra said as she rudely yanked the pokedex from my hand.

"I wonder what else he can do." Lyra said scrolling through the section on attacks.

"You know you could've asked if you could take it." I said unamused by her taking the Dex out of my hand.

But she ignored my comment and continued looking at the Dex.

"Hey Drake, can you do bug buzz for me?" she said looking up from the device.

Drake nodded his head and started to vibrate his wings again. This time I saw waves of energized sound being emitted from him. The attack sounded like a cicada call on steroids and had a reddish aura that pulsed with each wave. It spread across the forest causing the leaves on trees and bushes alike to vibrate and wither.

"Damn that's pretty freakin cool," I said looking around at the sound waves.

"Lyra, I'm so jealous of you right now."

"Yeah I know I'm awesome." she said smugly with her hands on her hips.

"No you're just lucky." I said in retaliation to her smugness.

"Luckier than you," she snickered with those sly eyes of hers.

"Which according to the rules makes me awesome." She said pointing her thumb at herself.

"What rules?"

"The ones I just made up." She said taking a step closer to me and smirking.

"Oh yeah, under who's authority?" I said pointing at her smug face.

"Under mine, the one who found a shiny." she said smugly as Drake flew back on top of her hat and mimicked her smug look.

Those two seemed to be match made in heaven they both know just how to push my buttons.

"*sigh* I give up, you win. Arguing with you is not worth my time." I said shrugging as I began walking again.

"Ha, victory is mine, score two for me.*giggle*"

"You're still keeping track from when we found Merlin?" I said.

"Yup."

"Why do I put up with you?" I muttered softly.

"Because I'm awesome." she said winking at me a she strolled past.

"*sigh*"

It wasn't long till we were finally out of Ilex and on our way to Goldenrod City. We walked about ten minutes or so before I struck up a conversation.

"So Lyra, what are your Grandparents like?"

"Oh they're wonderful people; I visit their daycare once every summer. My Grandmother is a botanist and grows all kinds of berries, and my Grandfather is world class breeder."

"Wow they sound incredible."

"Yeah but my Grandpa can be a jokester sometimes." she said regretfully.

"What about your Grandma?" I asked.

"She's pretty laid back…but I would avoid stepping on any of her gardens…like seriously don't."

"Oh, what's the worst she can do?" I said jokingly.

"Do you know what Ryhorn is?"

"Yeah. What does that have to do with anything?"

"I saw my Grandma flip one on its back after it smashed a flower bed of hers."

"…"

"*giggle* The look on your face right now.*giggle*" she laughed along with Drake mimicking her.

"You're kidding right…right?"

"Don't be so surprised Gold, my Grandparents run a daycare so they have to be able to handle any kind of pokemon that might be left in their care."

"Oh wow." I said meekly as I thought of what her Grandfather could do.

"Hey look, I think we're almost there." Lyra said excitedly as she tugged on my sweat shirt.

Lyra then took off into a brisk pace down the road. She was right too; I saw a sign for a daycare center on the side of the road.

"Come on Gold." Lyra said impatiently.

"I'm coming, I'm coming calm down." I said running after her.

At the end of the road was a beautiful old house that bordered on the edge of a large field, and right next the house stood what looked like a massive green house. It was hard to see but I could make out all kinds of pokemon in the field behind the house as well as two people waiting for us on their front porch.

"Hi Grandma, hi Grandpa!" Lyra called out happily.

"Hello sweetie." said her Grandfather.

He was a bit shorter than me and was balding, he had a white mustache and beard, his face had broad features and he looked rather tough for being old. Despite his gruff appearance his face wore a jolly expression and he looked happy to see us. Lyra's Grandmother had white hair as well and wore it up in a bun. She was wearing a causal green dress with an apron on top of that. She looked like she had just got back from her gardening because her apron had some dirt smeared on it.

"Lyra, it's so good to see you, how have you been?" said her Grandmother in a cheerful tone.

"And who's your friend?" she added.

"Oh, Grandma, Grandpa I'd like you to meet my friend Gold." Lyra said as she walked up the front porch and gestured towards me as I walked up to them.

"Uh..hi" I said a bit timidly.

Oh god am I seriously being nervous now? It's just her Grandparents! Ethan you're pathetic just act cool…Wait did I just call myself Ethan again? That's weird.

"Hey off the grass!" Lyra's Grandmother barked at me.

"Oh, I'm sorry." I said as I quickly jumped to the side and onto the walkway that lead to their porch.

Okay I knew Lyra said that her Grandma was a bit protective of her plants, but her lawn? That seems a bit strange.

"Oh sorry I didn't mean you." Lyra's Grandmother said pointing behind me.

I turned around and saw a bull like pokemon with several tails a couple yards out. It was grazing on the grass and seemed to be somewhere that it shouldn't. Then in no time at all Lyra's Grandmother was over by the bovine pokemon and grabbed it by the horns.

"What did I tell you about walking on the front yard!" she said as she practically twisted its horns around into submission and pulled the large beast over to the side.

My jaw dropped at the sight; did I just see what I thought I saw? I thought Lyra was just joking, but holy crap! She was dragging that massive pokemon like it was just a minor annoyance. The old lady after returning the pokemon to the enclosure behind the house came back to the porch wiping off her hands.

"Sorry about that, so you're Gold huh? Nice to meet you, you can call me Erica." Lyra's Grandmother said holding out her hand to shake.

"Uh yeah…nice to meet you..too." I said shaking her hand, but I was a bit fidgety.

"And you can call me Frank." said Lyra's Grandfather holding out his hand.

"Oh hi Franaahh!" I said as his grip practically broke my hand.

"Oh sorry, didn't mean to hurt ya there, I have a firm hand shake." he said chuckling.

"Yeah…no kidding." I said meekly looking my hand expecting to see something out of place or broken.

Then as if seeking some kind of explanation of what was happening I glanced over at Lyra. She had a rather weak smile on her face and was holding her arm nervously like she was embarrassed of her Grandparents. Oddly enough Drake was mimicking her weak smile too, it's like the two were in sync.

"Anyway, Lyra I couldn't help but notice that rare pokemon you have." Frank said gesturing towards Drake who was perched on top of Lyra's hat.

"Oh, uh, his name is Drake, I found him in Ilex." Lyra said snapping out of her embarrassed look.

She then reached up to scratch Drake's chin making him hum in a way that kind of sounded like a deep cicada call.

"Well you're incredibly lucky sweetie, I've been a breeder for over fifty years and I've only seen three shinnies in that time."

"And what a beautiful shade of blue he is." Erica commented.

Drake was practically basking in the attention he was getting and he had smug look on his face.

"So uh Grandpa, you wanna show us some of the pokemon you have out back?" Lyra said rather excitedly.

"Oh sure thing come on back. Hey how about you let your pokemon out while we're back there, I think they'll enjoy meeting the others." Frank said as he started to walk around the side of the house.

"Oh good idea." Lyra said as she let out her Marill and Teeka.

I in turn released Nile, Duke, and Merlin was well. We all walked around the back of the house and I saw a very large area that was fenced off. Me and Lyra walked up to the edge of the fence to look at what laid before us. In total I think there was enough space to fit two football fields in this fenced off area. In the center was a large pond that seemed to have crystal clear water. On one end was large rock formation that looked like a mini mountain. Next to that was a very flat and sandy area. Then there was pasture of trees next to that. The largest part of the enclosure was an open grass field that took up about a third of the total area. There were so many pokemon in there too; some of which I knew, but most I've never seen before.

"So what exactly do you do here?" I asked Frank.

"Well many trainers have very busy lives and often don't have enough time to raise all there pokemon. So they leave their pokemon in my professional care to raise them. Other times they request me to teach their pokemon moves or techniques that they couldn't teach on their own."

"Yeah in fact don't people from other regions come here to have you raise their pokemon Grandpa?" Lyra commented.

"Yes you're right, I remember one summer that you spent almost all your time riding on that Garchomp from Sinnoh. In fact I'm currently raising a Roserade for coordinator who is visiting from Hoenn."

"Really?" Lyra said as her eyes lit up.

"Yes the pokemon's name is De Fleur and his owner is named Kate. She's pretty well established in Hoenn as top coordinator. Here come with me I'll show you two the pokemon." Frank said turning around.

"Oh, but leave your pokemon here please, Erica doesn't like other pokemon in her green house other than grass types for safety reasons." Frank added before he went anywhere.

"Um okay, Nile, Duke, Merlin have fun, we'll be back in sec." I said scratching Nile's head before he and my other pokemon went into the enclosure.

"You too guys, we'll be back in a sec." said Lyra as her pokemon ran after mine.

"Alright follow me." said Frank as he turned around again and we followed him to the green house.

Before we entered the front entrance to the greenery Frank stopped for a second like he heard something. Over in the distance was the rumble of a helicopter.

"Hmm, is that a helicopter?" he said looking up at the sky.

"That's odd, they normally don't fly over here. Oh well, sorry for the interruption, here go ahead inside." Frank said as he opened the glass doors.

Lyra and I walked in and saw rows upon rows of berry bushes and trees. They were in a circle formation that seemed to orbit around a large central oak tree in the center of the green house. Sleeping under it was a huge reptilian pokemon with a large head and stubby limbs. It was pale greenish blue in color and had a large fern growing out of its back. In the center of the fern was a large red flower with yellow spots on it. This was the largest pokemon I've ever seen in my life.

"Oh my god that thing is huge." I said with a dumbfounded look on my face.

"That's a Venusaur Gold, it's my Grandmother's first pokemon." Lyra said.

"Yes, and her name is Flora." said Erica who had just walked in behind us.

"She helps me promote the growth of my berries using aromas that come out of her massive flower. She also kills any unwanted weeds by using her poison attacks." Erica commented as she walked past us over to her sleeping Venusaur.

"Wow that's cool." I said.

"So where is De Fleur Grandpa?" Lyra asked as she looked around the green house.

"He's up in that tree right now I'll call him over. De Fleur come over here please." Frank called out.

Then from out of the tree that loomed over the sleepy Venusaur came a pokemon that was roughly two feet tall. The small figure jumped from the branch it was on and landed on the ground gracefully twirling around like a ballet dancer. Its head and arms seemed to made of blue, red, and white roses and appeared to be wearing a mask made from a leaf. The flower pokemon gracefully walked over to us and I could smell a wonderful aroma coming off it.

"Oh wow, he's beautiful." Lyra said as she knelled down to see the pokemon.

"This is defiantly the pokemon of a star coordinator, he's so elegant and graceful, aren't you." she said holding out her hand to shake.

The Roserade didn't return her shake and hide its face behind its blue bouquet of roses as it walked away from her like she wasn't important.

"Was it something I said?" Lyra said confused.

"Oh sorry I forgot that De fleur has quite the ego and only consults with those it considers talented." Frank commented.

"Wait, I'm not talented!" Lyra barked at the pokemon who merely glance back at her before pointing its nose to the air and walking off.

"Why you, who do you think you are?" Lyra said irritably and took a step forward before I grabbed her arm stopping her.

"Lyra, you're getting worked up over nothing." I said trying to calm her.

Lyra isn't exactly fond of others thinking she's untalented or unskilled. I know from experience that she gets really competitive whenever I make fun of her short comings. Like the time I said she wasn't good at Smash Bros and she spent like two days practicing before she wooped my ass later at it.

"Besides what does he know, I think your talented." I said.

Lyra gritted her teeth before turning around and sighing.

"Alright fine." she said reluctantly.

"Well, uh, I think we should head back out to the yard now." said Frank who was picking up on Lyra's distaste in the flower pokemon.

Before we left the green house Frank said "Actually Lyra, if you're interested Kate said she would be picking up De Fleur later today if you wanted to meet her."

Lyra looked a little happier after that comment and said. "Oh that sounds nice, I wonder if she can give me some tips."

"Well I'll let you know when she's here." Frank said as we left the green house and went back to the enclosure. We walked up to the fence's edge and I saw Nile was having fun in the pond.

"Looks like Nile see's something he likes. Hey Gold you want to go swimming in there?" Lyra asked eagerly.

"Oh I'd rather not, but thanks." I said shrugging.

"Oh come on it will be fun. I used to do it all the time when I came here over the summer."

"I don't know, that water looks kinda cold." I said scratching the back of my neck.

Lyra shot me glare after that comment, but I shrugged it off as I looked back at the pond. My Croconaw clearly enjoyed the water and was having a blast. I was about to say something else, but then I felt Lyra grab the hood of my sweat shirt and started pulling me towards the house, she nearly threw me off my feet in the process.

"Gold stop being a wuss and get in your bathing suit." She said in pouty tone.

I could hear Lyra's Grandparents laughing, seeing what their granddaughter was doing to me.

"Alright, alright, I'll get changed, jeez you're so pushy." I said yanking my hood out of her grasp.

"Good, when I come out you'd better be that water or I swear." She threatened me as we entered the house.

I found a bathroom and quickly got changed into a swim suit that I had packed in my bag; it was black with yellow flame designs on the legs. While I was in there I glanced at myself in the mirror and noticed that the bruises on my back were all gone. I was also pleased to see that I was actually in better shape than I thought I was. My figure was rather lean although it was nothing special.

I then went back outside and walked into the enclosure. I saw all of our pokemon enjoying themselves with the others. Merlin was perched on top of a branch and sleeping as usual. Teeka was having fun grazing in a field with other Mareeps and that bull pokemon from before. Drake was being rather silly as he taunted several Sentrets by flying off with their berries. Why does Lyra seem to attract all the pranksters? Oh wait that's cause she is one, how could I forget.

I glanced over to that small scale mountain at the other end and saw that Duke was involved in some sort of sumo match with a Rhyhorn twice his size. Wow he must really want to get stronger. I admire his boldness, even though he wasn't doing very well, but the rock type looked pleasant enough and I wasn't too worried about him. Marill was swimming along with Nile in the pond. As I made my way towards the pond I saw Lyra's Grandfather feeding a horse like pokemon with a flaming mane, which I think was called a Ponyta.

"It's nice to see you decided to go swimming with her." Frank said.

"Yeah I wouldn't say I decided, more like forced." I said jokingly.

"Yeah she can be a bit pushy sometimes." Frank chuckled.

"Tell me about it." I said walking up to the edge of the pond and looked for Nile.

Nile seems to have already made friends with several other water types like a Goldeen and a Tentacool among others. Since when was Nile so sociable? Maybe it's just people he doesn't like.

I stood at the edge of the pond and was bit hesitant to get in, it's that stupid feeling you get where you're afraid of how cold the water might be. But then I felt someone push me and I fell into the water face first.

The water was actually not that bad; in fact it was rather refreshing. But the cool feeling of the water didn't make me forget about being pushed in. I shot to the surface in search of who pushed me in.

"Okay who has the nerve?" I said wiping my dark blue hair out of my eyes.

Then I saw Lyra standing at the edge of the pond who was laughing hysterically. But what caught my eye wasn't her snickering face, but rather the fact that she was wearing a bikini. Wait…since when does Lyra wear bikinis? On those rare occasions we've actually gone swimming together she's always worn a one piece. The one she was wearing right now was dark green and it really showed off her slim figure. I couldn't take my eyes off her.

"So how's the water Gold?" Lyra said tilting her head.

"Oh uh, it..it's nice." I said timidly looking away from her.

This was a first for me, I've never seen her in a bikini before and I couldn't shake that queasy feeling. Damn it stop being such a wuss, she's just your friend!

"Well since you're in already, CANON BALL!" Lyra shouted as she jumped forward.

Lyra crashed into the water and splashed me in a cascade of water. I could hear Lyra's Grandfather laughing off to the side.

Once she resurfaced she said, "Wow, there's all sorts of water types in here."

"Like what?" I asked.

"Well there's…actually." Lyra said shifting into that sly tone of her's.

"Marill come over here, I have a job for you." she said slyly as she started to whisper in her Marill's ear.

Oh god what is she up to now? Whatever it is, it can't be good. After she finished whispering in Marill's ear the water type dove under the water.

"What are you up to Lyra?" I said crossing my arms.

Lyra just giggled as she lowered herself into the water so that only her head poked out. Nile swam up next to me and looked confused as to what is going on.

"Dunna….Dunna." she said softly.

I cocked and eyebrow at what she was doing.

"The hell is that supposed to mean?"

"Dunna…dunna dunna." she said a bit faster.

"Wait a second," I said as I thought about where I heard that tone before.

"Dunna dunna dunna dun dun, dunna dunna dun dun." she said faster still.

"Okay Lyra what the hell are you doing?"

"Dun dun!"

At that moment I felt something grab my leg and was suddenly lifted in the air as something very large surfaced.

"Whoa, what the hell!?" I said as I dangled upside down and looked up at what was holding me.

It was a very large pokemon with a bulky build. It had cream colored belly that resembled a shell with blue scaly arms and turtle like head. In fact, the pokemon that was holding my leg looked like the mother of all snapping turtles. It looked down at me and grunted lowly.

"Gold I'd like you to meet my Grandfather's Blastoise Bruce." Lyra said swimming over the giant turtle.

"Uh…hi…Br..Bruce" I said meekly.

The massive turtle pokemon lifted me higher so that my head was level with his. This Blastoise looked prehistoric and rugged; his blue coloration was rather dark and fading, implying that it was rather old. I couldn't tell if it was happy or mad due to a lack of expression on his face.

"*giggle* Bruce you can let him go now." Lyra said swimming past the Blastoise.

But when she swam past I caught a glimpse of her winking at Bruce.

Bruce responded to Lyra's request by turning towards the center of the pond and held me to the side.

"What are you doing Bruce, this isn't putting me down." I said a bit fearfully.

Then Bruce grunted out a low chuckle as he then chucked me several yards over the water before I crashed into the pond. When I resurfaced I could see Bruce, Lyra, and even Nile laughing at me.

"What was that for?" I said distastefully looking at Lyra.

"*giggle* Because you're so much fun to mess with." Lyra said snickering.

"Okay then, if that's how's it's going to be. Nile, use water gun." I said with smirk on my face.

Nile quickly swam over to me and spun around shooting a quick burst of water at Lyra's face. When she wiped away the water she had an astonished look on her face. I grinned back at her implying that we were even. But then Lyra's face took on a big sly grin.

"Oh it is on now." She said as she held up her fingers and snapped them prompting Bruce to look at me dead in the eye.

Then from his back sprouted two large shoulder cannons and pointed one at me and the other at Nile. My eyes along with my Croconaw's both opened wide as we realized the big mistake we just made.

"Oh I didn't think this one through." I said meekly as a powerful torrent of water knocked me and Nile off our feet.

Once again I resurfaced to see Lyra laughing uncontrollably. This time though I couldn't help myself from laughing too. Cause as terrifying as that was, it was actually kinda fun.

"Sorry to interrupt you two, but have any of you seen an Aggron nearby? He didn't show up to get his food today." said Frank who was standing at the edge of the pond.

Lyra and I both turned to face him with the look of confusion on our faces.

"An Aggron?" I asked.

"What's that?" Lyra replied.

"Oh he's a pokemon from Hoenn. He's about eight feet tall, dark grey, with steel plating on his back and head." He said describing something very scary.

"Eight feet tall?" I said in disbelief.

"I guess that means you haven't, that's odd I wonder where he went." Frank said scratching his bearded chin.

"Bruce come here I need your help." Frank said motioning to his Blastoise.

Bruce nodded his head and wadded his way through the pond over to him.

Frank, before he went off in search of this Aggron, stopped for a second when he heard another helicopter.

I looked up and saw the aircraft fly over the head and disappear off into the distance.

"Twice in one day, that's odd." Frank commented before we went on his way with Bruce following him.

"I hope he finds that Aggron soon, whatever that is." Lyra said with a concerned look on her face.

"Don't worry about it's probably just over by the trees or something." I said not worrying.

Before Frank disappeared though he turned around and commented, "Oh almost forgot, Lyra that coordinator Kate is here you should catch her before she leaves."

"Oh really, sweet come on Gold lets go meet her." Lyra said excitedly as she swam to the edge of the pond.

"Alright I'm coming." I said swimming after her.

She grabbed a towel out of her bag which she left at the edge of the pond and wrapped it around herself. I quickly dried off with I towel I had in my bag and followed Lyra to the green house. When we got there we saw four girls in what looked like semi casual dresses. The one in the center, who had the Roserade, had long flowing blonde hair and a designers hat. She wore a sky blue skirt with a green shirt and over that she wore a sky blue vest.

"Wait Kate." Lyra called out running up to her and the other girls.

"Oh, who are you?" Kate said in slight uninterested tone turning to see Lyra.

"Hi my name is Lyra, I wanted to talk to you before you left." Lyra said cheerfully.

"Oh I'm flattered." Kate said as if she was used to it.

"I heard that you're a star coordinator and I wanted to know if you could give me some tips."

"Wait don't tell me…you're Lyra that wanna be coordinator?" said one of the girls.

"Wait what?" Lyra said confused by the statement.

"Oh yeah, I heard she was involved in some crime thing as a publicity stunt." said another girl.

"What?" said Lyra and I.

"Oh that is her, shesh they'll let anyone be a coordinator these days." Kate said smugly.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Lyra said in agitated tone.

"You know what I mean amateur." Kate said rudely as her entourage of girls laughed.

"Hey I am not an amateur, I've won a ribbon at Violet city!" Lyra barked at her.

Lyra looked like she was about to do something drastic so I grabbed her by the arm and held her back.

"Oh that's adorable, I've won over forty and I'm going to win ten more at Goldenrod." Kate said smugly as she crossed her arms.

"One ribbon? You're as amateur as they get *giggle*" snickered one of the girls

Lyra paused for second before she said "Oh yeah, I bet I could beat you at a contest!"

"Oh I highly doubt that." Kate said smugly as Lyra gritted her teeth.

Oh no, that competitive side of her was going wild now.

"Lyra we should just go, come on." I said as I tried to pull her away from this, but she wouldn't budge.

"Look if you want my advice, I say you should just let the professionals handle the real art of performing. Trust me don't even bother coming to Goldenrod, a no talent nobody like you wouldn't stand a chance against the pros." Kate said turning around and walking away with her posse.

"Arrgh, just you wait blondy, I'm going to win those contests and perform circles around you!" Lyra barked at her.

"Lyra chill out it's not worth it." I said trying to calm her.

"You should listen to your boyfriend, trust me it's not worth competing against me." Kate said walking away.

"Oh yeah we'll see who's laughing when I beat you at Goldenrod, you can count on it! And he's not my boyfriend!" Lyra retorted.

"Okay then hot stuff, then I'll expect to see you there, don't disappoint." Kate said before she and her girls disappeared down the road.

Lyra quickly turned around and rubbed her hands together like she had a nasty plot on her mind.

"Oh I'll show her." she muttered to herself.

Well it's nice to see that she's still confident after hearing those insults, but I think this might be the first time that she's way in over head. I mean Kate has won over forty ribbons and Lyra has only preformed once.

"Lyra, are you sure you wanna do that?"

"You doubt me? I thought you were supposed to be my support." she said cocking her eyebrow.

"Um eh, no I just think you, might want to…" I said but she shot me a glare of distaste.

"Never mind." I said looking away.

"Good, I'm going to need your help any way." She said walking back to the enclosure.

"*sigh*"

But before we got very far into the fenced off area, Lyra's Grandfather came running up to us along with his Blastoise. He had a distressed look on his face.

"Grandpa, is something wrong?" Lyra said in a concerned tone.

"It's the Aggron, I can't find him anywhere and I'm getting worried. I could use some help if you don't mind." Frank asked.

"Um sure I'll do whatever I can to help" I replied.

"Thanks, I think he may have wandered off into the woods."

"Wait is he dangerous?" I asked.

"Don't worry about that, he's very gentle for his size. In fact, I heard from his owner that he plays with small children at a preschool and would never hurt a fly." he replied

"Alright we should probably split up to find him then." Lyra suggested.

"Good idea, Gold can I have you sweep that area over there, Lyra you go over there and I'll check things out over there. Meet back here in an hour okay." Frank said pointing at each portion of forest we should search.

"Got it." Lyra and I said.

Before we left in search of the Aggron I went to gather my pokemon just in case something happened and so did Lyra. Once my team was assembled I went off into the woods to try and find the eight foot steel plated creature. I had Merlin take to the air to try and find any clues of this large creature as me, Nile, and Duke stood rather far apart to cover more ground. I was out there for what felt like an hour and the day was starting to come to a close. I should probably head back soon.

Jeez where the hell is this pokemon? I wonder if the Lyra or her Grandfather have found him already. But as I was thinking about that Merlin flew over to me and landed on my shoulder. He then turned his head off to my left.

"I guess that means you found something, Nile, Duke over here." I said calling out for my pokemon.

Once Nile and Duke met up with me I walked towards where Merlin was facing. After a bit of walking I found an open pasture that had tall grass, but what was something odd about it. The grass in the center of the pasture was flattened. The ends of the grass blades all pointed away from the center kind of like what would happen if a….helicopter landed here. I glanced around the area and saw trails in the grass that are formed when people walk through it.

I followed one of the trails and found an area of ground that looked torn up and there was a toppled tree off to the side. In the dirt I could see the foot prints of people and pokemon alike. Then I found larger prints of a three toed creature that sunk about six inches into the ground. Whatever made them had to be massive. Oh my god, that Aggron must've been here, and from the looks of things it fought who ever these people from the helicopter were.

But wait, all the tracks made by the people have trails that lead back to where the chopper would be but not the Aggron's. His just end and go nowhere, like he just disappeared…or got captured!

"Oh no." I muttered distressfully as I came to the horrible realization.

"But who could do thi…" I said before I knew exactly who.

"Team Rocket!" I said angrily.

I can't believe this, it was them in that chopper from before this whole time. I have to go back and tell Lyra and her Grandfather what happened. I trekked my way back to the house and met up with Lyra and her Grandfather, I told them the news and brought them to the spot that Merlin found. Frank looked distraught by the story I told him and he couldn't believe what he was seeing.

"I can't believe this, that poor Aggron." Frank said in an upset tone.

"He didn't stand a chance against them, he wasn't breed to be fighter. What could Team Rocket possible want with him, I mean the poor thing is scared of thunderstorms for crying out loud!"

"They're probably going to sell him. We have to do something." I said ready to take on those team rocket bastards.

"There's nothing we can do Gold. This isn't like before when we knew where they were." Lyra commented.

"Arrgh damn it your right." I said clenching my fist.

"What am I supposed to tell my client now?" said Frank in a gloomy tone.

Lyra and I both glanced at Frank and saw the look of discontent on his face.

"That man trusted me with his pokemon and I let him down." he said as if the weight of the world has just come crashing down on him.

"It's not your fault Grandpa" Lyra said trying to make him fell better.

Unfortunately that seemed to do little in alleviating his feeling of guilt. The fact that Team Rocket was long gone and that I could do nothing to help fix this was eating away at me.

"*sigh* Lets just head back to the house, there's nothing more we can do. I'm going to have to call the police and let them know what happened. Things are going to get hectic around here soon so I suggest you two head out before they get here." frank said in stern voice.

"Are you sure, we can help you know." Lyra commented

"No trust me, I think it's best that you leave now, I don't want you to get involved with police questioning. This is my mess to deal with not yours."

As much as I wanted to stay and help, Frank was right, there is nothing we can do now. Lyra and I both said our goodbyes and we left the daycare with our heads held low. What was supposed to be an exciting visit has taken a turn for the worse. If I ever figure out where those Rocket bastards are hiding, they'll regret the day they stole that Aggron.

* * *

**Aggron is my second favorite pokemon of all time and once again I'm guilty of fudging the proportions of him. But in my mind my steel plated dino is 8 feet tall and beastly!**

**Any way Hope you enjoyed the chapter.**


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14: Kate vs. Lyra

"Okay Gold, one more time from the top."

"*yawn* Lyra can we please go back already? I need sleep." I groaned rubbing my eyes.

"No not yet Gold, this has to be perfect." Lyra responded with her arms crossed.

"Uggh fine."

Lyra and I were on the out skirts of Goldenrod city in an open field working on her routines. It was roughly 11:30 at night and we've been at this for about five hours now. Despite my exhaustion Lyra for some reason was not showing any sign of being tired. This is what happens when Lyra gets competitive, she never quits.

I tried my best understand what Lyra was taking part in, but I only have a rough understanding. Unlike her pervious contest, where she only preformed once, she now has to perform five times in different categories. I think she said that she can win ribbons for those individual contests but once all five are done they are judged as a whole and determine a winner. But the scoring system was too complicated and I barely understand it, other than it's on a scale of one to ten.

Much like when I borrowed Teeka, Lyra has requested the use of Merlin and Nile for her contests considering she was short two pokemon.

"Okay for the first portion of the Super contest is the Smartness category, Merlin you're up." Lyra said motioning for the sleepy bird on my shoulder.

"*sigh* he's asleep again." I moaned looking to left my shoulder.

"Well wake him." Lyra said impatiently.

I can't believe she's being so persistent at this hour, but I might as well.

"Merlin come on wake up let's go, just one more time." I said lazily nudging my Hoothoot.

Merlin opened his eyes about half way and had a really grumpy look on his face.

"Merlin let's do your routine, light screen then follow up with foresight." Lyra said gesturing her commands.

Merlin took a big yawn and ruffled his feathers before taking off from my shoulder. Once airborne his eyes glowed as the yellow hexagons surrounded him. Once fully encased in his bubble of protection his eyes glowed red as his senses heightened and became more aware of his surroundings.

"So explain to me again why this is a good routine? I thought you had to do a display or something." I asked in a fatigued tone.

"Gold not all the contests require a flashy display." she said matter of factly.

"So how is this good?" I said half yawning

"Look, for the Smartness category you have to show a series of moves or techniques that provide a great tactical advantage. This right here is a perfect example, Merlin is protected by a shield from physical harm and when combined with the heightened awareness that foresight provides it's a perfect defense." Lyra explained.

"Oh okay, I think I get it *yawn* so can we leave already?" I said eager to get to bed, considering we have a room back in the city with two beds for once.

"We have to do all the routines! We're not leaving till they're perfect." Lyra said in pouty tone.

"Lyra you've done each routine like twelve times now, that's over sixty times you've done it, please I need sleep." I said half groaning.

Lyra rolled her eyes at me and muttered something inaudible, but it defiantly sounded like an insult. Despite her attitude I did feel like an ass for not trying to be more supportive, this contest means a lot to her and her pride.

"*sigh* Look, I'm sorry, I'm just tired and so is everyone else." I said motioning towards the sleeping pokemon at our sides.

Nile was on his back sleeping like a rock from all the toughness routines Lyra made him do. Teeka and Marill were curled up on top of Nile's speckled belly and were rising up and down as Nile breathed. Duke was lying next to Nile but he wasn't asleep yet, though his eye lids looked heavy. Drake was napping on top of Lyra's hat, which by this point I swear is his favorite place to be. I saw Lyra looking at our pokemon and she started to realize the lack of energy in them.

"After this last one you should get some serious sleep, you're pushing yourself too hard." I said concerned for her well being.

"….I can't… not yet…I have to beat that stuck up blonde." Lyra said in an agitated tone.

"Arrgh what if my routines aren't good enough?" Lyra said worriedly as she started pacing around.

She looked like she was about to have mental breakdown and possibly rethink her entire plan again. She was biting her lip nervously and pulling at her hair. I had to say something before she goes berserk.

"Lyra look, I'll be honest when I say I had my doubts, but after what I've seen you come up with in such little time, I'm almost positive that you can beat her." I said hoping that she would stop worrying.

"Oh be quiet you! You're just saying that so that we can leave!" she barked at me.

"No Lyra I'm serious, you're the most talented girl I've ever met and your routines are fantastic."

Lyra paused for a moment and that pouty look on her face went away.

"You…you…you really mean that?" she said timidly.

"Yes I do. Lyra please you've worked hard enough, you need some sleep. You wouldn't want to go to the contest hall looking like a nervous wreck now would you?"

Lyra took a deep breath and calmed herself before saying, "Okay…you're right let's head back."

I'm relieved that I was able to get Lyra to give it a rest. Regardless of my desire to sleep, I was telling the truth when I said her routines were really good. They were even better than the performance she did in Violet city. How she was able to come up with these five routines in less than a day amazes me.

Lyra and I made our way across the grass field as we came to the top of the hill that hid the city from view. Once at the top we saw the incredible lights of the largest city in Johto. Tall buildings over forty to sixty stories tall dotted the horizon. Advertisements of all sorts of companies like Silph Co. and Devon Corp. were displayed all across the city.

We got here earlier this day around noon to find a hotel, and I was shocked at how big this city is. Unfortunately, cities still stress me out; like back when I was in Cherry grove I wasn't exactly happy about all the people who surrounding me. But it's not like crowds of fifty or so people bother me, in fact far from it. It's the felling of being surrounded by thousands of people that gets to me. But when I walk with Lyra I seem to forget about my uneasiness towards the urban environment.

She makes me feel at ease and forget about the masses of people around me. We didn't chat much as we made our way back to the hotel, rather Lyra scoured over pamphlets of paper that explained rules and guidelines for the contest tomorrow. She's still nervous about whether or not she's forgetting anything.

Even though I told her to take a break with the whole contest thing, I decided to humor her just this once. I hope she doesn't drive herself crazy checking those papers though.

I was hoping for a relatively uneventful walk through the city, but I got a rather unusual surprise. We were about halfway to the hotel when I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket. My first thought was that Lyra had texted me cause she's the only one who ever texts me, but I quickly realized she's right next to me and that couldn't be it. It can't be my mom, she doesn't even know how to text. So who the hell texted me?

I grabbed my phone out of my pocket and flipped it open to find out who it was. The number was unfamiliar to me and wasn't saved in my contacts. I opened the message and read it silently to myself.

"Hey cutie C U the Contest :)"

I was certainly…confused by what I just read. Who the hell sent me this? And what's up with '_cutie_'? Someone thinks I'm cute? This has to be some kind of prank. Maybe someone saw me on TV back in Azalea and is now screwing with me? But then how the hell did they get my number? And how did this person know I was going to the contest hall, only Lyra and her grandparents know that. For all I know this could be another one of Lyra's pranks, but I kind of doubted it considering her current subject of focus. This was going to drive me insane if I kept thinking about it; so I decided to pretend it never happened.

We got back to the hotel and I was surprised to see Lyra collapse on bed without even getting changed into her pajamas. She was sprawled over the bed with her arm dangling over the side with some of the pamphlets still in her hand. She never ceases to amaze me, she's worked so hard. I noticed that the room was kind of chilly and I'd hate to see her get cold. So I got the blanket on her bed and laid it over her. She's going to need her sleep if she wants to do well tomorrow.

With Lyra tucked in I went over to the other bed in the room and tried to get some sleep. But that was hard considering I couldn't take my mind off that weird text I got. Who sent it, and why do they know where I'm going? Sleep evaded me for quite awhile.

I woke up the next morning around 5:30 am, and I was still exhausted from yesterday. I think I've grown more accustomed to sleeping on couches than actual beds as of late. I wonder if Lyra is up yet. I turned my head on the pillow to look towards the other bed. She wasn't in it so I guess she's up. I glanced towards the center of the room to see Lyra looking at herself in the mirror. She was dressed in her pink dress and she was doing her hair. She looks so nice in that dress.

She turned her head and noticed that I was awake and said, "Oh you're up, can you zip up the back of my dress I can't reach it."

"Um….sure." I responded as I grudgingly got out of the bed.

I walked over to her and she turned around to show her back to me. I reached for the zipper on her dress and pulled it up. This is weird; this isn't exactly something I'd expect Lyra to ask me to do. I couldn't help but feel a little queasy looking at her bare back; her skin is so smooth. As I pulled the zipper I thought about her body and how she wasn't as curvy as most girls her age, her hips aren't that wide and she's a bit petite, but I think that makes her cute.

Even though technically I'm helping her get dressed, I felt like what I was doing was naughty for some reason. I also caught a whiff of her perfume; she smelled like lilacs, I love lilacs.

Everything about her was mesmerizing. My mind started wondering off and I could see fantasies of Lyra in my arms. I can see myself looking into her chocolate colored eyes, before she slowly closes them and wraps her arms around my neck and I lean my head in as the two of us kis….WAIT WHAT!?

What the hell am I thinking!? Why do I want to kiss her!? Lyra's been my friend for five years for crying out loud, I can't just think of stuff like that! Why am I having these feelings for her all of a sudden? No we're just friends, that's it!

"Ow! Watch it!" Lyra exclaimed as I accidently caught the zipper on her back.

"Oh shit sorry!" I said as I snapped out of my thoughts again.

I quickly tried to bury those thoughts I had and took better care of what I was doing.

"Thanks." she said after I finished up.

"Alright…um… so when do I need to be there?...cause I think I'm going to get some more sleep befor.." I said before Lyra cut me off.

"Actually, Gold can you walk with me there?" she said tugging on my sweat shirt.

"Um…sure thing." I said wondering why she was insistent on walking with her.

"I need your help offstage with getting everyone dressed and handling the props I'm using. So it would be easier if you just come with me now." she explained.

"Um..okay just gimme a sec and I'll be ready to go."

"Thanks."

As I was doing my hair, rather poorly, I noticed that Lyra wasn't her usual cheerful self. She must be stressed about competing against Kate, I don't blame her. Before we left Lyra gave me a backstage pass and told me not to lose it. I was a little disappointed that I wouldn't get to see her perform from the audience, but she needed my help and I'd do anything for my best friend.

We left the hotel and made our way to the contest hall. Being that it was only six in the morning the sky was still dark but signs of light were showing. This seems to be the only time that the city has few people on the streets. I have yet to see the contest hall and I wondered what it was like. I didn't have to wonder for long though as we walked around a block and found a huge coliseum looking building with a roof. This building, although only seven stories tall, took up over four blocks of city space.

There were red banners hanging in between the roman like pillars that ran along the rim of the building stating that the contest was being held today.

"Gold this way, we need to go around back." Lyra said as we walked away from the impressive set of stairs that led to the grand entrance.

I followed her but I never took my eyes off the impressive building. We found the back stage entrance guarded by two rather tall gentle men in suits, with a Machoke and Machamp with them.

"Good morning, you participating?" said one of the gentlemen.

"Yes I'm Lyra, contestant number four." Lyra said holding up the pamphlet she had.

"Looks good, and you?" he asked looking at me.

"He's my backstage assistant." Lyra said nudging me to hold out my pass.

"Alright head in." said the man as he on his partner opened the door for us.

The inside of this area was very dark and ugly with poor lighting and pipes running everywhere, but being that these are the maintenance halls that lead to backstage I didn't except much. I wonder how the stage looks.

We found our room by the stage and once inside we found a large mirrored wall on the far side of it as well as various props from past performers. There was couch in the room along with a small fold out table and chairs.

"Alright let's get everyone ready." Lyra said as she grabbed her pokeballs and let everyone out.

She then handed me the bag she was carrying and said, "Get Nile and Merlin dressed for me."

"Sure thing" I said letting Nile and Merlin out.

I dug into the bag Lyra handed me and pulled out the muscle shirt that she bought for Nile.

"Nile come here, you need to look your part." I said as Nile walked over to me.

He held his arms up and I tried my best to get the shirt over him without getting caught on the spiky red fins on his head and back. Once I got it on him Nile gave me an unamused look like he was saying "_Do I_ _seriously need to wear this?"_

"Nile just suck it up." I said to my Croconaw.

Nile crossed his arms and grunted like he felt ridiculous. The white sleeveless shirt gave him the appearance that he was part of some street gang. I then reached into the bag again and pulled out a small purple robe with white trimming. It was fitted for a Hoothoot, the Hoothoot that was currently sleeping.

"Merlin, wake up please." I said nudging him.

Merlin yawned loudly and held out his wings to help me get the robe on him. I was amazed that clothing like this exists because it perfectly fits the round pokemon. Merlin looked like he was a monk from some kind of monastery, adding to the smart appeal that Lyra was going for.

When I was done I looked over at Lyra's pokemon who were all dressed up. Teeka had several bows tied into her wool, Drake wore a pair of aviator goggles, and Marill wore what looked like a skin tight dive suit, minus the scuba tank and goggles.

"Looks like we're ready, Gold we have some time before we start so let's get a look at the stage before people start pouring in." Lyra said heading for the door to our room.

I followed her out of the room and down the hall that lead to the main stage. It was a massive stage and there were over a thousand seats in the audience. The red fabricate on the chairs gave the impression of a red wave that surrounded the stage. If I didn't know any better I would say this place was a sports arena. I walked with Lyra out to the center of it to get a better look of this grand architecture.

"Oh look who showed up." called out a voice over a chorus of girlish giggles.

Lyra and I turned towards the back stage entrance and saw Kate and her posse of girls. She was wearing a very expensive looking blue dress that had glitter designs sewed into it. Lyra had a determined look on her face when she turned to face her new rival.

"I said I'd be here." Lyra replied.

"I'm impressed; I thought you and boyfriend would've given up." Kate snickered

"He's not my boyfriend!" Lyra barked at her, which only prompted all those girls Kate was with to giggle.

"Hmm good to know." Kate muttered to herself.

"Pfft, well this is going to be easier than I thought." Kate added rather smugly.

"Just wait till I beat you Kate, then we'll see who's laughing." Lyra said taking a defiant step forward.

"Normally I'd wish you good luck, but it would take a miracle for you to win, and I don't see any lights from above shining on you any time soon." Kate said as she left the stage with her posse.

I could see Lyra gritting her teeth as that blonde girl left the stage. Before I could say anything the intercom system sounded.

"Alright show time is in twenty minutes! All contestants report to the situation hall."

"Well that's me, Gold head back to the changing room I'll get you when I need you. Also I forgot to mention that you have to stay there unless you're giving me a prop. Sorry it's the rules." Lyra said turning to me.

"Wait, how am I going to watch you perform?" I said confused.

"Didn't you see the TV in the changing room? You'll get to see it from there, alright I have to go." Lyra said turning towards the backstage door.

"Good luck Lyra, I know you'll do great."

"Thank you Gold, I hope you're right." Lyra said giving me a weak smile before she left.

"And then there was one." I said joking to myself, before I went back to the changing room.

I was in the room sitting on the couch bored out of my mind messing around with my pokedex. I decided to look up what an Aggron was, I know it wouldn't do any good at this point at getting him back from Team Rocket, but I humored myself.

"Aggron, the Iron Armor Pokémon. The final evolution of Aron, Aggron's can grow up to nine feet tall weigh up to one and a half tons. Aggron's steel horns can destroy the firmest of bedrock and it digs tunnels as it looks for iron to eat. They claim mountains as their territory and plant trees to mark it. So beware if you find a straight line of trees on the edge of a mountain."

"Gee that's a pretty terrifying pokemon." I muttered to myself.

It was then that the TV that hung in the corner of the room tuned on. Nile and the others gathered around me to see the screen. I saw onscreen the stage along with an announcer, Lyra, Kate, and two other contestants.

"Welcome people of Goldenrod City!" exclaimed the announcer as thousands of people in the audience applauded.

"Today's super contest will get underway shortly, competing today are Kate of Ever Grande city in Hoenn, Eric of Violet city, Trevor of Goldenrod, and Lyra of New Bark town." said the announcer as each one waved as their names were called.

"Now with introductions out of the way, we'll kick things off with the Smartness catergory. Up first is Trevor."

With that said the four contestants left the stage and the curtain closed. It wasn't long till I saw Lyra walk in get Merlin.

"Well here I go," Lyra said with a hint of nervousness in her voice.

"You'll be fine don't worry." I said to reassure her.

Lyra nodded her head and left the room with Merlin on her shoulder. I looked back at the TV and saw the curtain open with Trevor on stage wearing his tux, next to him was a Hypno. I wasn't very interested in his performance to tell the truth and I didn't really pay attention, same with Eric. But my interest was revived when I saw that Kate was on stage. She had a strange looking blue bird with what looked like clouds for wings. It was wearing a designer's hat with peacock feathers hanging off it.

"Up next is Kate and her Altaria Strato." exclaimed the announcer as Kate waved to the audience.

"Strato use dragon dance and follow up with safeguard!" Kate said like she was the friendliest person in the world.

I frowned at that fake act she puts on for the people, I know that she's a stuck up bitch.

The blue bird unfurled what I think are wings as what looked like electricity began to surround the bird. But the energy wasn't like normal electricity for it was convulsing from dark red to bright cyan over and over again. The energy seemed to be building up inside the pokemon causing it to appear more powerful.

Then the Altaira called out in beautiful song like bird call as its body was covered in a veil of golden light. The judges defiantly looked impressed by the display, and I was too. Kate, with a slight smug look on her face, waved once again as the audience gave a standing ovation. She then walked off stage with her massive bird flying after her.

Lyra was up next, and things didn't look good for her. Lyra took to the stage and waved after the announcer introduced her, I felt a little proud when I heard the audience chuckle a bit at Merlin's name. Lyra issued her commands and Merlin did the display from the other night. Unfortunately Lyra was not as widely loved as the Altraia.

After her performance they went to commercial break and I waited for the results. When they came back they revealed the scores. Trevor scored a six, Eric a five, Lyra a seven, and Kate took first place with an eight.

I had to remind myself that there were four more contests before the end, Lyra could still win. I was surprised that Lyra did so well though, she only did one less than Kate.

"With the scores out of the way it's time for the toughness portion trainers please head back and bring out your next pokemon. Kate will be the first to perform this round." the announcer said as the curtained closed.

I looked at Nile to see if he was ready, he looked a little nervous.

"Nile you okay?" I asked my Croconaw.

He gave me a concerned look.

"Nile I know you're nervous of people, but think of this like a fight, show them what you can do." I said to reassure the water type.

Nile looked a little happier after I said that, but still a bit nervous. Lyra quickly entered the room and had a determined look on her face.

"Gold I need you, see that steel girder over there?" Lyra said pointing to the corner of the room.

"I'm on it." I said going over to carry the heavy piece of steel that was about forty pounds or so, five feet long, and about half as thick as normal girders.

I followed Lyra to the edge of the stage and stopped to watch Kate's performance.

"For the first portion of toughness Kate will be performing with her Toxicroak Dreg." said the announcer as Kate waved.

Standing next to Kate was a creature that came up to her shoulders, purple blue in color, with black patterns on its skin, and it was wearing a black martial arts head band. What caught my eye about the pokemon were the nasty red curved spikes on his hands. Next to the pokemon was a cement road block.

"Dreg smash it with brick break!" Kate said enthusiastically as she pointed towards the large piece of cement.

Dreg let out a low gurgling croak as he cracked his neck before assuming a fighting stance. Then in one swift movement he dashed up to the road block and karate chopped it reducing it to pile of rubble. The speed at which this pokemon dispatched this hunk of concrete was impressive, but also scary. The audience clearly enjoyed the display.

Kate waved to the audience and left the stage with her Toxicroak following her. Kate shot a smug look at me and Lyra as she walked by. I could see Lyra gritting her teeth again as Kate entered her changing room. After that the Machoke and Machamp from before cleared the stage of rubble.

"Up next is Lyra." said the announcer as the curtains closed for the next transition.

"Well that's me, just leave the girder on the stage." Lyra said as she motioned for me to follow.

I placed the girder next to Nile near center stage. My Croconaw had a troubled look on his face again.

"Nile you'll be fine I'll be right over there." I said patting his head.

Nile gave me a toothy smile before I went to the edge of the stage just as the curtains opened.

"And now here is Lyra and her Croconaw Nile." exclaimed the announcer as the audience clapped for Lyra.

"Nile use crunch!" Lyra said pointing towards the girder.

Nile hesitated for a second looking at all the people, before he took a deep breath and walked over to the girder and picked it up. He opened his jaws and clamped down on the steel bar. For a few seconds nothing happened but then the steel caved in under his teeth as the groan of bent metal filled the room. Then using his arms he bent the girder in half. He clamped down on it again and bent it a second time before he dropped it on the floor. Nile finished off with a pose and showed off like a body builder.

The crowd was ecstatic and clearly impressed by Nile's display. Lyra waved to the crowd and walked off with Nile following her.

"I hope I did well." Lyra commented as I walked with her back to our room.

"Trust me I think you impressed the judges on that one." I replied as we entered the room.

We watched Eric and Trevor perform, but once again they weren't that impressive. This contest is pretty much only between Lyra and Kate at this point. The scores came in and Lyra had her fingers crossed. Kate was awarded a score of eight, Trevor won a five, Eric earned a seven, but Lyra had a nine. Lyra had won the second contest. In total Lyra had a score of sixteen and was tied with Kate.

"Oh my god I won the second round!" Lyra said excitedly.

"I knew you could do it, just keep it up and you'll win." I said encouraging her.

"Well its time for the coolness portion, Drake you ready?" Lyra asked her shinny dragonfly.

Drake hummed a low cicada call and landed on top of her head.

"Ah crud I forgot, what did you need for this one?" I asked as I went over to the prop pile.

"I need those three metal poles there remember." Lyra said pointing towards the bundle of metal poles as Drake imitated her pointing one of his legs at the bundle.

"Oh right the whole bug buzz thing." I said remembering the routines from yesterday.

Lyra got to perform second this time and as Eric left the stage. I went on stage with her and stuck three of the metal poles into pre-cut holes in the stage in a straight line. Before the curtains opened I ran off to the edge.

"And now for the second portion of Coolness is Lyra and her shiny Yanma Drake." said the announcer as Lyra and Drake waved to the crowd.

"Drake you know what to do, use double team and follow with bug buzz!"

Drake hummed excitedly as he took off from Lyra's head and landed on top of the center pole. Then his body vibrated as two clones moved to the tops of the other two poles then all three clones spawned into five other ones that flew low to the ground and circled the three poles.

Then the center Yanma on top of the pole buzzed his wings unleashing the waves of red energized sound. Once they hit the nearby poles they resonated through the steel and caused the double team clones to blur into bizarre shapes as they circled the poles. The sound that resonated through the contest hall sounded like a harmony of bells and cicada calls. Once the display was done the clones came back together and Lyra waved to the audience as they gave their applause. The curtains then closed and I went out to grab the poles.

"Wow that was impressive; Kate would have to pull out all the stops to beat that." I commented as we headed back to the changing room.

"I'd like to see her try." Lyra said with confidence as we entered the room and took a seat on the couch to see the TV.

Kate was the last to perform and we saw her onscreen with a Magmar standing next to her.

"Pyro use smoke screen then bring the heat with over heat!" Kate saw twirling in place motioning towards her Magmar.

The fire type inhaled deeply and spewed forth a thick black cloud of smoke that blotted out the lights on stage. The room became dark and eerie. Then there was a spark of fire from inside the smoke that then erupted into a raging inferno that highlighted the Magmar's silhouette inside the black mass. It looked like a demon straight from hell had taken the stage and was invoking its wrath. Once the smoke settled the crowd erupted with affection.

Lyra had a disappointed look on her face; she knew Kate had won this one. Lyra was awarded a seven while Kate won a ten for her performance.

"Damn it she's good, great she has a twenty six now and I'm stuck with a twenty three, I have to win the next two if I have a chance of beating her." Lyra groaned.

"You'll do fine, don't worry" I said to reassure her.

"Hey do you need me for the next one?" I asked.

"It's the cuteness part next, you don't need to do anything." she replied.

"Good, I have to go to the bathroom. Plus I'm pretty hungry so I think I'm going to prey off that food stand they have back there." I said heading for the door.

"Alright make it quick though." she said as she got ready with Teeka in her arms.

"I'll be back, don't worry." I said as I left the room and Lyra made her way to the stage.

After doing my business I went to the food stand that the faculty left for us to snack on. The table was covered in all sorts of food like fruits, vegetables, chips, and oh my god are those cupcakes!?

"Oh hell yes." I muttered to myself as I grabbed a vanilla cupcake and pretty much inhaled it.

After a few more cupcakes I had some of the carrots from the salad bowl and chugged down a few cups of root beer, before I heard a voice from behind me.

"So you're that kid Gold right, the one who fought Team Rocket?" said the voice of some girl.

I turned to see who it was and saw that it was Kate, minus her posse of girls. Her arms were crossed behind her and she was giving me a friendly smile. What is she doing here? And why is she giving me this innocent look?

"What the hell do you want Kate." I said displeased by the person who was in front of me.

"Oh, I just wanna to talk."

"I don't. Now what do you want?" I said distastefully.

"Do I need a reason to talk to a boy? Especially one as talented as you, the boy who fought Team Rocket." Kate said in sly manner.

"Isn't that right…cutie?" she added as she twirled her blonde hair with her finger.

Cutie? Wait a minute…

"…did…did you send me that text yesterday?" I asked.

"Guilty as charged." she replied gesturing towards herself.

"How the hell did you get my number!?" I barked at her.

"*Giggle* My dad is the head of major organization, he knows people." she replied.

"Your dad?"

"He's one of the most powerful people in Johto." she replied.

"And so he can just causally give you the number of anyone?" I said crossing my arms.

"In a sense yes." she answered.

"Well you had your fun, and your joke was freaking hilarious, now leave me alone." I said turning around and starting to walk away.

"I meant what I said, I do think you're cute." she said as if she was toying with me.

I stopped in my tracks and turned to look back at her.

"Hmm, that got your attention." she replied playfully.

"Now then, since we're alone…and away from that Lyra girl,*giggle*" Kate said walking up to me.

I backed away from her approach but was halted when my back hit a wall. I was cornered and couldn't get away from her. She then placed her finger on my chest and started twirling it while giggling to herself like she was pinning me there. I could feel a lump in my throat as I bit my lip nervously and I felt my cheeks getting red. What the hell is she doing!?

"I'd like to offer you a proposal." she said starring up at me with her sky blue eyes.

"A...proposal?" I said nervously.

"*giggle* Why don't you forget about that nobody girl and come with me." she said with a seductive voice.

"W..w..what?" I stuttered.

"No other trainer has done what you did in long time, I could use someone like you." she said pressing herself against me.

The top of her head came up to my chin and she was bit taller than Lyra. I could feel her chest rubbing up against me and she was more developed than Lyra.

"Well, what do ya say?" she said placing her other hand on my shoulder and moving her face closer to mine.

This is wrong, I had to get away from her, but my body refused to move I was too choked up.

"I…I eh." I stuttered once again.

"Come on, my dad can get you any pokemon you want with a snap of his fingers, you can have the team fit for a champion." she said slowly as her face continued to inch closer to mine.

I felt like I was under a spell and my body wasn't resisting what she was doing.

"That girl is a nobody…she'll hold you back…come with me." she said even slower than before.

Her eyes were half open and she was giving me an erotic look. She wrapped her hand around the back of my neck and lightly pulled on me as her face came even closer. Her face was about half an inch away from mine now and she looked like she was about to kiss me. No, no I had to stop this now!

I came to my senses and pushed her off of me and said, "Get off me! I'm not interested! Now leave me alone!"

"Hmmph, is that any way to treat a girl?" she said smugly.

"Lyra is my best friend; I'd never leave her for someone like you! And she's going to beat you!" I said defiantly.

"She's better than I thought, I'll give you that, but she'll never amount to anything. She'll only hold someone like you back in the long run. "

"The answer is no!"

"Fine be that way, you'll come around eventually. You have my number." she said walking off.

I then turned around and went back to the Lyra's room and didn't look back. What the hell just happened to me? She tried to kiss me?! Why is she trying to separate me and Lyra? I'd never betray her like that, she's my best friend. I walked into the room and found Lyra sitting on the couch. I wore a distressed look on my face and I quickly tried to hide it.

"Gold, what took you so long?" Lyra asked.

"What eh…n..nothing I was just uh." I stuttered.

"Just what?"

Oh god should I tell her? No, don't do that you moron, just lie. It's better that she doesn't know.

"Sorry I just took…a little longer at the food stand that's all." I said scratching the back of my neck.

"You pig." Lyra chuckled to herself.

"Yeah that's me, heh." I said meekly

"Well you'll be happy to know I won the cuteness portion with an eight." Lyra said stroking her Mareep.

"Oh that's… great."

"You okay? You look troubled."

"What no, I'm fine." I lied; I am not fine at all.

"Alright if you say so."

"Anyway, I now have a thirty one but that stupid Kate has a thirty one too. I can still do this, Marill are you ready for this last one." Lyra said looking towards her first pokemon.

The round water type nodded her head as she walked over to Lyra and she picked her up. We both looked towards the screen to see Trevor and Eric take their turns, but Lyra kept making comments on how they could've done better. Then it was Kate and her Roserade's turn.

"Ladies and gentle men I give you the best show you'll see all night!" Kate exclaimed confidently.

She then twirled in place along with her Roserade like a ballerina and said "De Fleur use aroma therapy and follow up with petal dance!"

The Roserade, dressed in an expensive looking green and white kimono, gracefully waltz across the stage as a pink cloud of pollen and scents wafted into the crowd. Then it twirled in place and let loose various red, blue and white petals from the rose's on its body into the air that all settled to the ground. Stopping for moment the Roserade looked at the audience before kicking off into an incredible well choreographed dance as the petals began to circle the pokemon in flurry of color, slowing down and speeding up as it did. It finished off with a triumphant pose as the petals dispersed into the audience. The crowd was ecstatic as they tried to grab one of the hundreds of petals that descended around them.

Kate and De Fleur both bowed and left the stage.

"Oh my god." I said stunned by that impressive display of beauty.

"I can beat that." Lyra said in her sly voice.

"What?! Lyra I saw Marill's routine, you can't beat that." I said concerned for her.

"That's where you're wrong; I've kept my real routine a secret from you."

"Eh...*sigh* why am I not surprised." I said shrugging at her usual antics.

"Just watch." She said as she left the room to take her place on the stage.

"Oh god I hope you know what you're doing." I said worriedly after she left.

I looked to the screen as Lyra took to the stage with her Marill in her arms.

"Marill use ice beam!" Lyra exclaimed as she let her Marill go to work.

Ice beam? When the hell did she teach Marill that?

The round pokemon inhaled deeply before she shot forth a beam of blue lighting towards the floor that encased any it touched in ice. Marill ran around the stage and using her ice beam she began constructing what looked like a castle made of ice with four turrets and central tower. The speed and efficiency that Marill was able to build this structure was incredible, when did Lyra have the time to practice this?

"Now Marill use water spout!" Lyra said after the castle of ice was finished.

What the hell is she doing?

Marill nodded her head and ran inside the frozen structure. Then suddenly water began to shoot up from the four pillars and center tower like fountains. But it didn't stop there as water flowed over the walls that faced the audience creating beautiful water falls. The whole scene was shrouded in rainbow due to the water particles in the air hitting the stage lights. It was beautiful.

I sat there on the couch in awe of what I just saw. She's incredible. Lyra then took her bow and left the stage. The crowd gave her and even louder applause than before and even gave her a standing ovation. When she entered the room she was ecstatic.

"Lyra that was amazing, I can't believe what I just saw!" I congratulated her.

"You think so?" Lyra said starring at me with her chocolate eyes.

"Yes you're incredible Lyra."

"Thank you Gold." she said with a hint of shyness in her voice.

"Okay, I already know the answer to this, but how did you do that?" I asked her.

"Oh that's another one you're going to have to figure out yourself." she giggled.

"*sigh* I figured as much."

We both turned to face the TV to see the final scores. Kate was awarded with a nine for her performance giving her a total of forty. But Lyra was awarded with a ten giving her a forty one.

"Oh my god I beat her! I did it!" Lyra said jumping up and down.

She then turned and hugged me saying, "Thank you for helping me Gold, I couldn't have done it without you supporting me."

My cheeks blushed as she wrapped her arms around my torso and held me tightly.

"Thank you so much." she said softly.

"N..no problem." I said nervously.

She let go of me and said, "Well it's time for the award ceremony I have to go back on stage."

"I'll be here as usual." I said as Lyra left the room.

She never ceases to amaze me….I think…I'm falling for her.

* * *

**Man I had alot of fun writing this chapter especially when i had to come up with what pokemon Kate had on her team, I figured that her father allows her to travel all over the world and have access to foreign pokemon. I also had fun writing that scene Gold and Kate shared, poor Gold.**

**Hope you liked it.**

**Hmmmm Whitney's Miltank is up next, So I guess I can...Sorry, I just had Vietnam style post traumatic stress flash back there. The horror of that stupid Miltank!**


	15. Chapter 15

**Yeah record time for my longest chapter and I did it all while watching shark week! Let the music play! XD (snaps finger then does awkward victory dance)**

**No but seriously this chapter is longer than I thought it was going to be, it is quite literally over Nine Thousand! I was shocked when I looked at the word count when I was done writing it.**

**I'll be honest when I say I never thought I would reach 15 chapters, I thought I would've given up after chapter 5, but after getting the support form my readers I was able to keep going. I also now have no intention of stopping till my story is done. So shout out to my readers, you're awesome!**

**Hope you enjoy. **

* * *

Chapter 15: Rollout!

After Lyra won her three regular and one super ribbon we never saw Kate again after she left the stage. Lyra was a bit disappointed that she didn't get to rub it in her face, but I on the other hand was glad that I didn't have to see her again, not after what she tried to pull with me.

Lyra got changed before we left the contest hall, sporting her usual get up. It was around two in the afternoon when we hit the streets of Goldenrod. I decided to let Duke walk with me as we made our way across town.

"Hey Goldy, you wanna challenge the gym next?" Lyra asked me.

"I was thinking of doing that tomorrow, I wanted to give the others a rest before taking on the gym leader." I replied.

"Oh okay, how about we go sightseeing?" Lyra said as her eyes lit up with excitement.

"Sightseeing?"

"Yeah I heard there's a new radio tower on the Goldenrod boardwalk. Come on we have to see it!" Lyra said excitedly.

"You mean that tower over there?" I said pointing up towards the skyline.

It was the tallest building in Goldenrod over ninety or so stories tall, it was like a space needle that shot up into the sky and near the top was a massive disk like observation deck giving it the impression of a flying saucer.

"Yeah I've heard that it finally opened to the public about four days ago. Some of the Back stage workers were talking about." Lyra said looking at the tower in the distance.

"Um I dunna know." I said shrugging.

"Come on it will be fun." Lyra said tugging on my sweat shirt and giving me her iconic smile.

I haven't noticed this before, but the way that Lyra always tugs on my sweat shirt is something I've come to really like about her. It's a habit of hers that she's had since we were little; she does it whenever she wants my attention. I can't seem to resist her charm whenever she grabs a hold of my sleeve; although it may seem childish to others, I like it.

"Oh alright, if you really want to." I said smiling at her.

"Yeah! Come on let's go!" Lyra said enthusiastically as we changed course.

I followed after her with Duke by my side. He seems to be very intrigued by the city around him. I can tell by the way he walks that he's not used to solid concrete under his feet. Considering he's spent his whole life in a forest the whole concrete jungle must be fascinating to him. Something that really caught Duke's attention is the bullet train that ran down the center of this city. Every time it went back and forth Duke would look at it like a baby seeing a butterfly for the first time.

"Hey Duke if you think that's neat, wait till you see where we're going." Lyra said turning to look at my Nidorino.

Duke tilted his head with an interested look on his face. I forgot that he isn't tall enough to see the radio tower and has no clue where we're going.

"Yeah Duke trust me you're going to love it." I said looking down at my poison type.

It took us awhile to make it across the city but we finally made it to the shore line. There weren't any beaches but it had an impressive boardwalk that was lined with many expensive casinos and hotels.

If I remember correctly from a documentary I saw about this tower, when it was being constructed, is that it was supposed to house a shopping mall, gourmet restaurants, apartments, and several radio stations. The transmitter that ran up the spine of the building was supposed to be powerful enough to broadcast radio waves all over Johto.

We walked our way down the board walk which was covered in people and pokemon, and we saw many stores and retailers. I could feel a light ocean breeze rolling in as the smell of sea salt filled the air. And this place wouldn't be a boardwalk if there weren't thousands of Wingulls all over the place waiting for people to drop their food.

"Hey Gold look." Lyra said tugging on my sweat shirt.

"What is it?" I said looking at what Lyra was pointing at.

It was poster in the window of an electronics store. On it depicted a slick red device that was called the Pokegear, and some famous looking trainer was holding it. I think his name was Blue if I remember correctly.

"Oh I wish I could have a Pokegear." Lyra said in envy of the poster.

"What is it?" I asked.

"It's the newest MP3 player that functions as a phone and just about anything else. I saw them on TV and ever since I've always wanted one." Lyra replied.

"How much is it?"

"*sigh* Too much, they're really expensive, only celebrities and rich kids have them. And we're not exactly swimming in cash." Lyra moaned.

"Well that sticks." I said shrugging.

"Yeah, anyway let's keep going." Lyra said motioning for me to follow.

Granted that the many expensive hotels on the board walk were rather impressive, they didn't come close to the tower we were approaching. When we entered the main lobby of the building we saw many people and pokemon checking into hotel rooms, going up and down escalators, as well as many adults playing in the first floor casino. The place was filled with many abstract sculptures and a few fountains. The floors were a polished marble and just about everything else in here seemed come from a modern art museum.

"Wow, this place is cool. What should we do first?" Lyra said spinning in place looking at everything that was around her.

"How about we get a map of this place and then decide?" I suggested.

"Okay I see an information stand over there." Lyra said pointing towards it.

We walked up to it and one of the girls behind it greeted us.

"Welcome to the Goldenrod Radio Tower, how can I help you?"

"Do you have a map or something for the tower?" I asked.

"Sure here you go." said the lady as she handed Lyra a brochure of the building.

"Oh cool there's a food court on the second floor, I'm starving." Lyra said looking at the map.

"Hey um miss do you have a second map?" I asked.

"Um gimme a second I'll get you one, that was my last one." the lady said turning around looking through some boxes that were behind her.

"While you wait for a map I'm going to get some food, see ya sucker." Lyra said playfully as she went to the escalator to the next floor.

"And there she goes." I muttered to myself as I turned to look at the lady who came back with another map.

"Thank you." I said taking the map.

"Is this your first visit to the tower?"

"Um yeah."

"Would you like to try and win a brand new Pokegear? Being that this is our opening week we're offering one to the first person to answer a five question quiz."

"Wait, are you serious?" I said in disbelief of how convenient this situation was turning into.

"We hoped to promote business in our opening week, so we figured that a contest to win a pokegear would be perfect. So would like to try?"

Wow, what are the odds that Lyra tells me about this device and then I have a chance to win one just five minutes later? I wonder; if I win this contest I could give Lyra the pokegear as a gift for winning her ribbons. How would she react if I got her one? I've got nothing to lose I might as well try.

"Sure I'll give it a shot." I said eager to try the quiz.

"Here you go, remember you only get one try and you have to get them all correct. The most anyone's got was three questions right." The lady said handing me a tablet device.

I looked down at the screen and read the first question."How many movies are in the movie franchise Big Monster by Pokestar studios?"

"That's easy there's four." I said tapping the correct answer.

I of all people should know that; I have the complete DVD collection back home along with like every other blockbuster they've ever made. The rest of the questions were easy, well for me that is. They all had to do with science fiction films, my forte. I can see why many people would find this quiz really difficult; they ask many insider questions that many people would never bother to know. Like how did they do the acid blood effect in Invaders 3; which was styrofoam and acetone, something that's a lot of fun to play with. The last one was a trick question, "In which Time Gate Traveler movie did Brycen-Man play as the villain?" which was none of them. When I was done I got little confetti animation that took up the whole screen of the tablet.

The lady behind the desk had an astonished look on her face, I could tell she didn't expect me to get all the questions right. It's about freaking time all that useless knowledge I know about movies came into good use, thank you geekdom.

"That was easy." I said smugly as I handed the tablet back to the lady.

"Oh wow, you got them all right." the lady said like she was unsure of what to do.

"I'd like my new Pokegear please." I said trying to fight back a smirk.

"Um right of course, just a sec." she said fiddling with something under her desk.

I saw her holding a key and she opened a case on her desk.

"I hope you enjoy your prize." she said handing me the slick device that she took out of the case.

"Thanks," I said taking the new device and heading for the escalator that Lyra took.

Lyra was waiting for me on the second floor. She was at a table in a food court and she had what looked like a cup of lemonade with her. Once I spotted her I quickly hide the pokegear in my bag, I think I'll give it to her later.

"So Lyra is there somewhere you want to go in this tower?" I asked her sitting at the table.

"The top!" Lyra said excitedly.

"Wow that was fast, you sure you wanna do that now?"

"I looked over the map and I'm not that interested in casinos and restaurants, I just want to see the incredible view." Lyra explained.

"Well if that's what you want, Duke you ready to see something incredible?" I said looking down at my Nidorino.

Duke looked excited about going to the top, and he was eager get going. Lyra gave Duke a smile and went back to her lemonade, but she then had a confused look on her face and she looked up.

"Hey Gold do you hear that?" Lyra said looking up at the ceiling.

"Hear what?" I said looking up as well.

"It sounds like music."

"Yeah now that you mention it, I can hear it too."

I paid close attention and tried to make out a faint beat of a song. It was fast and upbeat, and it had playful nature in its rhythm, it sounded familiar.

"Is…is that… Sexy and I Know It?" I commented.

Lyra snickered out a laugh after I said that.

"Yeah sorry about that." said one of the building's employees who was walking by our table.

"That's one of our clients; he goes by the name Mr. B and he rented the dance floor in celebration of his company making their first sale in Johto or something. We've been getting noise complaints." he said pointing up.

"I assure you we're going to get him to keep the noise to a minimum, sorry if it's been bothering you." he said before walking off.

"A dance floor? You wanna go check it out?" Lyra asked me.

"Um no thanks, I hate large parties like that." I commented.

"Alright in that case let's head for the top floor." Lyra said pointing her finger up as she got up with me following her.

We got in the elevator and pressed the button for the top floor, which was floor number one hundred thirty one. This building was taller than I thought. As the elevator approached the fourth floor I could hear the music getting louder and louder.

"I think that's Thrift Shop playing now." Lyra commented.

"Damn that music is loud, that must be one hell of a party." I replied.

"That Mr. B person must've made a lot of money on what every deal he made." said Lyra as she leaned against the wall of the elevator.

"Yeah no kidding." I said crossing my arms.

After we passed the eighth floor we could no longer hear the music anymore. The rate at which this elevator climbed seemed to be really sluggish. I have a bad feeling we're going to be in this elevator for awhile. Although the idea of being stuck in a cramped room with Lyra isn't that bad now that I think about. It was at that moment some rather dirty thoughts entered my mind. Appalled by my perverted imagination, I quickly tried to bury those thoughts. Jeez what's wrong with me?

We had climbed about thirty more floors before I said, "And thus I slowly descend into madness."

"Yeah can these elevators go any faster?" said Lyra who was now sitting in the corner of the cramped elevator.

"*sigh* at least we're about a third of the way there." I said as I decided to sit down about a foot away from her.

"I'm bored." Lyra moaned.

"Ditto."

"Pfft, who says ditto anymore?" Lyra snickered at me.

"Lots of people do." I replied.

"No they don't."

"Yes they do."

"Keep telling yourself that Goldy boy, it won't make it true."

"Whatever." I said rolling my eyes.

Based on the liveliness of our conversation I figured this was going to take awhile. There isn't that much to talk about when all you can hear is that boring as hell elevator music. Well if we're going to be stuck here for awhile, I figured I could do something to make the ride less boring. I hope she likes what I got for her.

* * *

I can't believe how slow this elevator is going. We're only on the fifty first floor right now, god I'm bored. I didn't really stop to consider how long it would take to get to the top of the tallest building in Johto when I begged Gold to come here. I wonder what he's thinking about? I hope he's not bored by my decision to go to the top.

"Hey Lyra?" said Gold as he turned his head to look at me.

"Yeah?" I said looking back at the tall boy next to me.

"I uh…I um uh….I got you…something." he said stuttering a bit.

"You did?" I said a bit confused.

"Yeah I figured I'd congratulate you…for you know…winning against Kate." he said scratching the back of his neck.

Gold got me something? Since when does he get me gifts?

"What is it?" I said as I shifted my position and moved a bit closer to him.

"Um uh, I kinda want to make it a surprise…. so can you do me a favor and…uh." he said looking to the side nervously.

"And what?" I said tugging on his sweat shirt's sleeve.

"Can you uh…close your eyes, and um, hold out your hands." he said with a nervous look in those golden eyes of his.

"Um….sure." I said as I did as I was told.

I closed my eyes and held out my hands wondering he was about to do. There was a pause as I heard him open his bag. I then felt Gold put something in my hands. It felt rectangular with some kind of cylinder type hinge on one end while the other was rounded. It was a little bigger than a cell phone and felt like some kind of hand held device. What the hell is it?

"Alright open your eyes."

I opened my eyes and looked at what is in my hands. It took me second to figure out what he just gave me, but when I did I gasped. He got me a Pokegear!

"Oh my god….Gold how did you…" I said looking back into his golden eyes.

He leaned a little closer and said, "You'll have to figure out that one on your own."

He then leaned back and smiled at me. I was at a loss for words, how the hell did he get this? I only told him that I wanted one about twenty minutes ago, and some how he got one.

"You didn't steal this, did you?" I said half jokingly.

"I'm the guy who cried for like an hour when we got caught the first time you forced me to sneak out with you_._ You really think I have the guts to steal something?" he said making fun of himself.

I laughed when he said that. I then opened the device to see the massive touch screen it had. It had apps for a phone, music, radio, games, maps, and much more.

"Okay fine, give me hint at least." I said using that sly voice I use whenever I want him to do my bidding.

At first he insisted on not telling me, but I know how to make him reveal his secrets. So I gave him that sly look I save for those occasions when I really want him to do something. He caved.

"Okay fine, let's just say this is one those times that I'm really glad I'm a nerd." he said pointing at himself like he was proud of that title.

Damn, I thought I could get him to tell the whole story, oh well.

"Of course, I should've figured someone like you would find a way to use that to your advantage." I said mocking him.

"You didn't torture someone with those nerdy voices, did you?" I added as I snickered to myself.

"No, but you think that I could be an effective form of torture that way?" He said chuckling to himself.

"Trust me I'm the only one who can tolerate you." I said giggling.

"The hell is that supposed to mean? I'm not that annoying."

"You'd be surprised *giggle*"

"Hey, I'll gladly take that pokegear back from ya. I didn't even get a thank you yet."

"Fine thank you…..you massive nerd." I said in my sly voice.

"Now I just feel insulted. You should really.." he said before Duke interrupted him.

Gold's Nidorino groaned loudly as if he was saying _"Oh my god, will you two shut up!"_ This prompted both of us to laugh and Duke covered his large ears with his arms like we were annoying him.

"No but seriously, Gold this is the nicest thing you've ever gotten me…thank you." I said giving him a smile.

"Sure…I'm uh, glad that you…um ..like it." he said timidly and I think I saw his cheeks getting red.

Is…. is he… blushing? Why is he blushing? He only gave me a gift. My thoughts were interrupted when we reached the final floor. The elevator doors opened and we could see the massive observation deck.

"Thank god finally." Gold said as he stood up and walked out of the elevator with Duke following him.

I put the gift Gold gave me in my bag and followed him. The inside of this observation deck was massive, the floors were dark black granite and there were massive windows that circled around us. Gold and Duke were already at the edge of the room looking out off into the distance. Duke looked fascinated by the breath taking view.

"Oh wow the view here is amazing." I said walking up next to Gold.

"Yeah, you can see over half of Johto from here; if you look carefully you can see Mt. Silver over there." Gold said pointing towards the east horizon.

Although it was hard to make it out he was right, the largest mountain on our continent was just barely visible. The view was magnificent and we towered over every other building in this city.

I looked around at the landscape for a few moments then I turned to look at Gold. He was still looking off into the distance and didn't notice I was looking at him. He's been so nice to me lately, he's helped me a lot yesterday with getting my routines ready, he encouraged me to keep going when we were at the contest hall, and now he somehow managed to get me a new pokegear. I'm so lucky I have him as a friend.

Friend? Why does that word seem like it doesn't fit when I think of Gold? It's like I'm looking for a word that means….more.

"Well, I've seen enough, we should head back soon. If we leave now I think we can make it back to the hotel before the sun goes down." Gold said turning around walking to the elevator.

"Um okay right behind you." I said as I followed after the tall boy.

The trip back was rather long and boring, or it would've been if I didn't have the pokegear. Gold and I had a lot of fun finding out what it could do as we made our way back to the hotel. When we got back we found out there was an action flick on TV and we watched that before we finally went to bed.

* * *

"Is this seriously it?"

"Well uh…it's certainly….Pink." Lyra replied

Lyra and I were standing outside of a building that had a flamboyantly pink paint job with murals of cute looking flowers and pokemon on it.

"Check the map again there's no way this is a gym." I said looking down at Lyra who was looking at the map feature on the pokegear I won for her.

"Gold I don't know what to tell you, but this is defiantly it."

"Lemme see that." I said as I took the device from her.

"There's no way, this can't be right." I said confused by what the map feature was telling me.

"Here let's ask someone. Hey excuse me!" Lyra called out to someone who was passing by who turned when she called to him.

"Is this the Goldenrod Gym?"

"Yeah, you planning on challenging Whitney?"

"I'm not, but he is." Lyra said pointing to me.

"Heh, good luck." he said like we just reminded him about something awful before he went on his way.

"That was odd." I commented as I wondered why he said that.

"Come on, let's go inside already." Lyra said tugging on my sweat shirt as she went inside the front doors.

I followed in after her and once inside I noticed Lyra had and an astonished look on her face. I didn't have to wonder why, cause one quick look around this place told me everything. This place had posters of cute cartoonish pokemon, chibi dolls, bright colorful carpets and wall paper. Lyra and I were very confused by what was around us.

"Is this some sort of preschool? What kind of gym is this?" Lyra said meekly.

"I'm just as clueless as you are." I replied.

I continued to look around this children's play ground and found a large Snorlax bean bag with a girl sleeping on it. Her hair was hot pink and she was rather skinny, she wore a white shirt with pink trimming, short-shorts, and black and blue striped leggings. She was cuddling with several plush pokemon dolls; she seemed a little too old to be doing that.

"Should we wake her?" Lyra suggested.

"I dunna know."

"You think she's the gym leader?"

"I kind of doubt it." I said shrugging.

"Then maybe she knows who the leader is. You should wake her."

"Um I'm not exactly comfortable bothering a girl out of her sleep." I said scratching the back of my neck.

"Fine I'll do it, you wuss." Lyra said shooting me a glare.

She then nudged the sleeping girl and said, "Sorry to bother you, but do you know who the gym leader is?"

The pink haired girl was stirred from her sleep and look at us with her tired eyes.

She then yawned before she shot a glare at Lyra and said, "Hey what's the big idea you meanie! I was having a wonderful dream."

"I uh… I'm sorry. I just wanted to know if you knew where the gym leader is here."

"Uggh, why does everyone ask me that? It's always do you know the gym leader this and gym leader that." the girl groaned as she slumped back down on the Snorlax bean bag.

"Um…You are in gym right now, wouldn't it be normal for people to ask if you knew something about it?" I mentioned.

"Wait I'm in the gym right now? Oh right, I forgot! I decided to come here to take a nap after I went to that party at the Radio tower, *giggle* silly me." the girl said in a more cheerful tone as she leaned back up.

"*Giggle* that tall guy with the monster afro was a lot of fun." She said reminiscing what she did the other day.

"So um do you work here?" Lyra asked.

"Of course I work here! I'm Whitney the gym leader after all!" The girl barked at us.

"Wait then why didn't you just say so earlier?!" I said utterly confused by this girl.

"Sorry I didn't think it was that important." Whitney giggled to herself.

Lyra and I just stood there dumbfounded by this girl's childish antics. I may not be a mind reader but I'm almost positive Lyra and I were thinking the same thing. Is this girl for real?

"So is there something you wanted?" Whitney asked.

"Oh I uh…Sorry my name is Gold, I'm a trainer, and I came here to challenge you for your badge Whitney." I said with determination.

"Huh really? Oh boy I love fighting! Quickly this way!" Whitney said excitedly as she jumped from her bean bag and grabbed the hands of both Lyra and I and made off with us.

She nearly took us off our feet and Lyra had to hold her hat to prevent it from falling off. If I thought Lyra was spontaneous, this girl brings it to a whole new level. In manner of seconds Whitney brought us to a large room with a dirt floor and a standard issue pokemon league arena. I was surprised to not see the same childish decor from the other room.

"I can't wait to have another battle! I always win!" Whintey said cheerfully throwing her arms into the air, while still holding our hands.

What's up with these gym leaders, are any of them normal? Then again I wouldn't consider myself normal either.

"Alright so Bold was it?"

"Gold" I said correcting her.

"*Giggle*Gold? That's a silly name." Whitney said as she skipped to the other end of the room.

"Hey it's not that silly." retorted Lyra.

I turned to look at Lyra confused as to why she said that. I thought she gave me that nickname with the intent of being silly.

"Well whatever let's get started! Go Clefairy!" Whitney exclaimed tossing a pink pokeball into the arena.

What formed after the flash of light was stout pink pokemon with pointed ears, large curly tail, and had a swirl of pink hair on its forehead. Is this seriously what I'm up against? This thing looks like it couldn't even hurt a fly. Before I got ready to fight Lyra went over to the side and found bench to sit on.

"Alright then, this might be easier than I thought, go Duke!" I said releasing my Nidorino.

Duke came out ready for a fight but when he laid eyes on the pink fairy pokemon he looked confused. He turned looking back at me and gave me a look that pretty much said "_Seriously, I'm fighting that?"_

"Clefairy use double slap!" Whitney said in playful manner.

"Double slap? What kind of move is that?" I said as my confusion continued to grow.

The Clefairy then suddenly in no time at all ran up to Duke and smacked him right across the face. Duke was barely fazed by it.

"Duke use double kick!"

The poison type quickly pivoted around on his front legs and smashed his rear legs into the pink pokemon sending it backwards.

"Clefariy no! Are you okay?" Whitney said in a concerned tone.

The way she said that made me feel like an asshole for having duke attack her pokemon. In fact Duke too looked like he felt bad for hurting this seemingly weak pokemon. He walked over to the Clefairy to see if it was okay.

"Ha got you now! Clefairy use metronome!" Whitney yelled.

The Clefairy quickly shot up to its feet and starting swaying it's arms back and forth with one finger pointing up on each hand. Duke looked confused by what it was doing and scratched his head. Then a tiny flame appeared above the pokemon.

"Metronome? What kinda move is that and OH MY GOD!" I said as that tiny flame erupted into a massive ball of fire that was roughly as big as a car.

"Holy crap that thing's huge!" Lyra exclaimed almost falling out of her bench in shock.

"Awesome it turned into Fire blast! Clefairy fry that Nidorino!" Whitney exclaimed pointing at Duke.

My Nidorino's eyes widened as he trembled for second before he started running away from the pink pokemon. The Clefairy smirked as it tossed the massive fire ball and barely missed Duke. The heat that was emitted after that attack caused me and Lyra to both look away from the battlefield for moment. When I looked back I saw the Clefairy swinging its arms back and forth again.

"Duke quickly use sludge!" I said franticly hoping Duke could interrupt the attack.

Duke, although dazed, quickly shook it off and shot multiple globs of purple slime at the fairy pokemon. But suddenly the metronome turned into a small ball of electricity. The Clefairy then tossed the ball at the incoming attacks. The ball of static hit one of the globs and bounced off it into the next one and then another one like a pinball hitting bouncers. This rendered Duke's attack useless and it then shot towards the poison type striking him. Duke's body convulsed as he was being electrocuted by the attack.

"Duke you okay!" I said concerned.

Duke was on his feet again and shot me a look saying he was okay.

"Cool I think that one was electro ball." Whitney commented.

"Electro ball? What happened to fire blast?" Lyra said confused.

"That's the beauty of metronome; you never know what it's going to be! Isn't that fun?" Whitney squealed.

"So wait, this attack can turn into anything?" I said confused.

"Yep anything from raging infernos, powerful storms, to laser beams, and just about anything else! Now use metronome one more time!" Whitney said smirking.

The pink pokemon began the motions again.

"Duke get away quickly!" I said fearful of what was going to happen.

The metronome was prepped and ready to go, but this time only a small bubble shot out and harmlessly popped when it hit Duke. My Nidorino had a surprised look on his face and blinked several times wondering what just happened.

"Damn another dud, uggh I hate when that happens." Whitney said stamping her foot.

Wait this attack has duds? I might actually stand a chance now!

"Duke quickly use horn attack!" I instructed.

Duke quickly kicked off into a charge heading straight for the Clefairy. But before Duke could attack the Clefairy started crying. Duke stopped in his tracks and had a troubled look on his face. As soon as he stopped the Clefairy shot a grin at him and quickly used metronome again summoning a giant wave of water that rose behind it.

I took a step back as my eyes widened at the sight of this wave that seemingly came out of nowhere.

"Duke look out!" I yelled but was too late.

Duke was quickly swept away across the dirt ground as the wave crashed down around the Clefairy. The massive current of water tossed and churned as Duke was swept around like a children's toy

"Duke you alright?" Lyra exclaimed.

The Nidorino surprisingly got back up on his feet and had a fire in his eyes. I could tell he had enough of the games and wasn't going to fall for the innocent trick anymore.

"Duke, lets pull out all the stops, use sludge and follow with horn attack!" I yelled with determination.

"Celfairy use metronome!"

The stout pink pokemon began to swing its arms back and forth as Duke charged in with blinding speed. Duke let loose several globs of sludge that forced the Clefairy to stop its' attack and dodge out of the way. Duke then lowered his head to aim his horn at his opponent as he ran. The Clefairy quickly tried to get a metronome going again but was unable to when Duke rammed into it. The Clefairy was sent tumbling to the side. Oddly enough it was knocked out just from one attack.

"Oh wow that was actually quite easy." I muttered to myself.

"Clefairy no! Look what you did you jerk!" Whitney called out pointing towards me.

"Whoa why are you so upset? This is a pokemon battle, that's what happens." I said trying to explain myself.

God, she's acting like four year old who doesn't get her way.

"Oh right, silly me I forgot." Whitney giggled.

"Of course you did." Lyra and I said sighing.

"Fine then it's time for my last pokemon, Celfairy return." Whitney said returning the pink pokemon to its aptly colored pokeball.

"Alright then, Miltank go and teach this meanie a lesson!" Whitney said throwing another pink colored pokeball.

What took shape was rather fat looking cow like pokemon that was nearly as tall as Whitney. It had a pleasant expression on its face and looked content and not really wanting to fight. I know that this was probably just some act it was putting on in order to confuse me, I wasn't going to let it fool me.

"Duke use double ki.."

"Miltank use stomp!" Whitney yelled interrupting me.

The bovine pokemon quickly rushed forward with such a speed that I was shocked that something that fat could move that quickly. Before Duke could react the Miltank had stomped him into the ground. Duke had a dazed look on his face and he stumbled around like he was seeing stars.

"Duke you okay?" Lyra said concerned.

"Duke quickly snap out of it and use…" I said before the Miltank stomped Duke again, further disorienting him.

The Miltank then kicked him and using it's massive weight sent Duke tumbling.

"Now Miltank its time, use rollout!" Whitney said gleefully.

"What!?" Lyra and I both exclaimed.

The Miltank then took a few steps backwards and then went into a full sprint before rolling up into a ball and started plowing its way across the floor kicking up rocks and dirt as it did. Duke was still disoriented and didn't notice the rolling ball of doom heading for him.

"Duke look out!" I yelled but it was too late.

The massive bovine crashed into the dazed and confused pokemon sending him tumbling all way back to me. I looked down and saw that Duke was out of it, he couldn't fight any more. Holy shit this cow is strong!

"Yeah Miltank you rule!" Whitney cheered jumping up and down.

I quickly returned Duke and thought about what I should do now. This Miltank is a brute and Merlin is not cut out to fight that. Looks like Nile will have to take this one. I shot a glance back at Lyra and we exchanged a collective smirk; we both knew that Nile was the strongest pokemon I had and that this Miltank was in for world of hurt.

"Alright Nile let's do this!" I said tossing my Croconaw's pokeball.

It was reptile versus mammal as the crocodilian burst forth ready for a fight.

"Nile be careful this one is tougher than it looks!" I said warning him.

"Yep you bet cha Miltank's tough!" Whitney said praising her bovine pokemon who threw its fists up and threw a few punches like boxer reading itself for a brawl.

"Don't worry Gold, Nile can handle that cow. Go Nile!"Lyra cheered as Nile showed off his jaws full of jagged teeth.

"Miltank use rollout attack!" Whitney yelled as her pokemon kicked off into a rolling attack.

"Nile dodge it and use ice punch!"

The spinning ball of pink charged forward kicking up a cloud of dirt and rocks in its wake. Nile promptly side stepped as the bovine was about to hit him, then incasing his fist in ice he attacked the side of the pokemon with a right hook. Unfortunately his fist bounced right off the rolling pokemon much like when a projectile hits a spinning objet and threw him off balance. As the Miltank rolled past it quickly banked to the side turning sharply before heading back for Nile only faster than before.

Nile quickly regained his balance and faced the incoming ball of pink. Nile had no time to dodge so he braced himself for the attack.

"Nile be careful!" I said before Nile threw his hands forward as the Miltank collided with him and caused Nile to skid across the dirt.

The Croconaw struggled to keep himself up straight as the rotating ball of fat and muscle refused to stop. Unfortunately Nile stumbled as his foot got caught in an indentation in the floor. As the Croconaw fell the Miltank bulldozed him into the ground. It looked like a nasty blow; I could see Nile gasping for the air that was knocked out of him.

"Nile quickly get back up, it's coming back again!"

Nile was a little dazed, but he quickly shot up to his feet ready for more. The Miltank turned once again and came rolling in even faster than before.

I have to think of something quickly, Nile can't take this pokemon head on like this. I have to interrupt this attack somehow. Wait that's perfect!

"Nile use water gun on the ground and then ice punch it, quickly!"

Nile, although a bit confused by my command, trusted me and did what he was told. After soaking the ground in front of him with water Nile slammed his frozen fist into the wet ground. Thankfully it did exactly what I hoped it did, cause all the water in the ground began to freeze. Once the Miltank reached the frozen ground it lost control as it tried to turn towards Nile and threw the pokemon out of its spinning form.

"Miltank no!" Whitney cried as her pokemon tumbled across the dirt.

Nile saw his opening and rushed forward to clamp his jaws down the bovine. Despite all the strength of Nile's jaws it did little to hurt the Miltank. The bovine quickly got up and shook Nile off. Once on its feet it wore a smirk on its face as it began to throw punches at the croc. Nile dodged the punches before jumping back and slammed his fists together incasing them in ice before jumping back into the brawl with his frozen fisticuffs.

The two sides exchange various jabs, punches, and hooks. Although it was slow, Nile was starting to weaken the Miltank and get through its massive bulk.

"Miltank use rollout!" Whitney exclaimed annoyed by Nile's tenacity.

The Miltank attempted to curl up into it ball but Nile was fast and quickly landed an ice punch in the cow's gut before grabbing its arm and flipping the massive bovine over his shoulder.

"Yeah Nile you rule!" Lyra cheered in awe of Niles incredible strength.

The Miltank looked weak from that last attack and got up to its feet with signs of struggle in its movements. It looks weakened, time to finish this.

"Nile get ready, time to use Crunch!"

"Miltank stop that meanie with attract!" Whitney cried out.

As Nile charged in with jaws ready to go the Miltank gave Nile a look that I can only describe as…seductive, for lack of a better word. Then it swayed its fat hips to the side in little display of affection towards Nile.

"What the heck is that supposed to be? It doesn't matter , Nile finish this!…Nile?" I said confused by what was happening.

Nile had stopped in place and had a lovey dovey look on his face.

"Nile you okay?" I said confounded by what Nile was doing.

Whitney then burst into laughter.

"What's so funny?" I said.

"Looks like your Croconaw has fallen for Miltank!" Whitney said laughing hysterically.

"What!?"

"Your pokemon is immobilized by love!" Whitney said with a mocking face.

"What?! Nile snap out of it!" I yelled.

"Miltank use rollout!"

"Nile look out!" Lyra cried out.

But Nile wouldn't move he just stood there like he was in a trance like he was unaware of the incoming bovine. The rollout then crashed into Nile with full force and sent him tumbling.

"Nile get up quickly and dodge, it's coming back!" I ordered frantically, but Nile just lied there like he didn't have a care in world.

"Come on Nile snap out of it!" Lyra called out as the rolling pink mass turned around and closed in on Nile.

"Come on Nile, bros before hoes!" I yelled, but it was pointless, Nile was still lying there completely in a trance.

The Miltank then plowed over Nile even faster than before and sent him crashing into the ground several yards away kicking up dirt as he hit the ground. But the pink pokemon sped up again and mere seconds after Nile landed he was smashed aside again with great force. Nile was getting wrecked and he couldn't fight back.

After more attempts to get Nile to snap out of it he had been attacked several more times before finally he fell to the ground beaten and out cold. Oh my god I've never seen Nile defeated so easily.

"Yeah Miltank! You showed that meanie who's the boss!" Whitney said congratulating her pokemon.

The Miltank came out of its rolling attack landing it legs and looked back towards her trainer and smiled for the praise.

"So Gold you got anything else?" Whitney giggled.

I did, but Merlin wouldn't stand a chance against this pokemon. The only chance I would have is if I was able to put that Miltank to sleep, but Merlin wouldn't be able to put a dent in this pokemon even if it was asleep. Looks like I'm just going have to wing it.

"I have one more pokemon, I'm not done yet." I said as I returned Nile.

I pulled out my Hoothoot's pokeball and looked down at it. God I hope you can do this Merlin, I thought as I threw Merlin's pokeball.

"Go Merlin!" I said as my nocturnal bird took his place in the dirt arena.

"Oh that birds adorable! But cute or not I'm still going to beat it, Miltank rollout!" Whitney said pointing towards the small bird.

The Miltank began to sprint again and kick off into its rolling attack heading straight for Merlin. Wait a second Merlin can fly, that means that rollout won't be able to reach him!

"Merlin get in the air quickly!"

The Hoothoot heeded to my command and flew up into the air. But then the something I didn't see coming happened. The Miltank somehow bounced up into the air and smashed Merlin out of the air before crashing back down leaving a small crater in the dirt.

"Merlin no!" I called out in fear of how badly Merlin may have been hurt.

Thankfully it wasn't that much and he was able to regain control and stay airborne.

"Merlin use light screen quickly and then try hypnosis!" I ordered.

Merlin's eyes glowed as the shield began to form around him, then he looked towards the Miltank and tried sending his mental attacks towards it. But the Miltank just stood there as the spiraling light seemed to past by it harmlessly.

"What, but how is that possible!" Lyra called out confused.

"Awe to bad, it looks like your Hoothoot's mental power isn't enough to have an effect on Miltank. Oh well, better for me. Miltank use rollout again!" Whitney called out to initiate the attack again.

Shit this is bad, I have to think of something quickly, Merlin isn't safe in the air even with that shield protecting him. There's no way he could harm this Miltank with moves like peck or tackle and he doesn't have any ranged attacks…wait that's it!

"Merlin try and use confusion, quickly!" I called out franticly.

Merlin looked back at me like I was asking too much of him. I know Merlin hasn't been able to use confusion correctly yet, but this was the only way he could possibly hurt this Miltank. Merlin looked back the bovine that was closing in and closed his eyes and opened them as then glowed bright white. But nothing happened and the Miltank took to the air and almost hit Merlin before crashing back down.

"Merlin I know you can do it, try again!" I called out.

"Come Merlin you can do it!" Lyra said encouraging him.

Merlin had a wary look on his face but he closed his eyes and tried again, but before he opened them again the Miltank had taken to the air again and smashed him out of the air as they both fell to the ground.

"Merlin you okay!?" I said worriedly.

Merlin with his shield shattered slowly got back on his feet and turned to face the Miltank that had just landed back on its feet. But Merlin looked fatigued, those two hits he took were really wearing on him and he was breathing heavily.

"Come on, Merlin use confusion I know you can do it. You've come so far you can't quit now!"

He closed his eyes and tried to focus his attention but nothing happened again. Merlin was looking frustrated, but he tried again to no avail. The strain on Hoohoot's body and mind was showing.

"Merlin don't give up keep trying!"

"Miltank use stomp and stop that little bird!"

The Miltank began to charge forward as Merlin stood there with his eyes closed. I could tell he was focusing as hard as he could to use the attack, but if he didn't open his eyes he was going to get crushed.

"Merlin move!" I cried out trying to warn him.

The Miltank reared its foot up and quickly smashed it downwards, but Merlin just stepped to the side and the foot missed him by mere inches.

"Oh my god he dodged it!" I said amazed by Merlin's quick response.

"Miltank use stomp again!" Whitney said as her pokemon quickly reared is foot up again.

I looked at Merlin expecting him to move, but he just stood there with his eyes closed. Wait why isn't he moving?

"Merlin move!" I called out, but then I saw the Miltank hesitate in its attack.

It looked confused and looked around like it was looking for something that wasn't there. Then I heard a sharp ringing sound fill the room. The Miltank then held its hands up to its head and reared back like it had a headache.

"What the hell is happening? Miltank are you okay!" Whitney called out.

That was when I noticed it, Merlin's eyes were burning bright white.

"Merlin you did it! Way to go!" Lyra cheered.

"Yeah Merlin you rul…" I said but stopped when I saw something else happen.

As the Miltank writhed around like it was hearing voices, Merlin's body began to give off that familiar glowing haze that rose up like steam. No way…

"…He's evolving!" Lyra and I both said astonished.

It looks like using that move must have triggered Merlin's evolution or something. Merlin's body glowed intensely as the ringing noise grew louder. Merlin's body became elongated and tall; his head crest became more pronounced and bent pointing upward. He was still growing and growing until he was actually taller than me! All the occupants in the room stood in awe of this transformation.

Once fully formed the bright light that surrounded him dispersed in a flash as Merlin unfurled his new massive wing span. His eyes ceased to glow and Miltank was able to get a grip on what was happening. It looked shocked, and probably didn't notice the evolution due to the confusion attack.

"Hell yeah! Merlin you evolved!" I exclaimed.

Merlin then without turning his body rotated his head around like and owl and gave me a subtle look that conveyed gratitude. He must be thanking me for encouraging him.

"Wow I love it when pokemon evolve! But that still won't help you Gold, Miltank use rollout go!" Whitney called out.

"Merlin look out!"

But Merlin didn't move, instead he turned his head around with his eyes glowing pink and as the tumbling bovine came crashing towards him. Then out of nowhere a translucent wall of glowing pink formed in front of the Miltank. The rolling pokemon crashed into the wall grinding against it trying to break through but was unsuccessful.

"What the heck is that?" Lyra exclaimed.

"Darn it, your Noctowl knows reflect! Crud that's no fair!" Whitney said stamping her feet.

Then Merlin's eyes glowed brighter pink as he unfurled his wings and caused the wall of glowing pink to move across the room and push the rolling mass backwards and crashed the pokemon into the opposite wall.

"Yeah go Merlin!" I cheered.

The pink wall dispersed and the Miltank looked dazed by the attack but quickly shook it off and readied itself to attack again.

"Merlin quickly use confusion!"

Without hesitation the Noctowl's eyes burned a brilliant bright white as the loud ringing sound filled the room. The Miltank was about start it's rollout but stopped in its tracks as it held its head like it had a very painful headache. Merlin then started looking up and the Miltank began to rise in the air.

"Holy crap that's cool!" I said in awe of Merlin's new found psychic powers.

"Miltank!" Whitney cried out.

The pink pokemon rose twenty or so feet into the air still bracing its head from the psychic attack. Then Merlin's eyes ceased to glow and the cow pokemon fell straight towards the ground and crashed with a thud. The Miltank struggled up to its feet but it was quickly knocked to the side as Merlin formed another shield wall and sent it across the room towards it. The bovine pokemon was then slammed into the gym's wall again.

Throughout all these attacks Merlin never moved from where he stood, he merely looked to one side or the other indicating what his powers should do. He was like a mastermind who stood back to watch the show unfold.

"Alright Merlin, use confusion one more time!" I ordered seeing that the Miltank looked weak form the mental onslaught.

Merlin unfurled his wings and his eyes glowed once again as the Miltank writhed around until it finally fell from exhaustion.

"Oh no Miltank get up!" Whitney cried but the bovine pokemon was seeing stars and stayed down.

"Yeah we did it Merlin, we won!" I said as Merlin flew over to me.

He was really tall now I could look him in the eyes when he stood up, and his wing span was twice my height; over eight feet I think.

"Well I guess that means no more sitting on my shoulder, I think you'd break my back." I chuckled as Merlin tilted his head indicating that he thought what I said was amusing.

"Yeah Merlin that was amazing!" Lyra commented walking up to the large bird.

But our celebrations were interrupted when I heard someone crying. I turned my head and saw Whitney on her knees crying to herself.

"Is she crying?" I said astonished.

"I think she is." Lyra replied.

Oh good, now I feel like a total asshole. Why is a gym leader of all people crying from losing a pokemon battle? I walked over to Whitney with Lyra following to see if we could calm her down.

"Wahhhh…*sniff* you're a meanie! No one every beats my Miltank!" Whitney cried looking up at me.

Is this girl five or something? Oh god this is going to be awhile before I get my badge. Luckily Lyra was able to calm Whitney down using her talents. I'm really thankful she was here, because I haven't the slightest clue as to how I would calm her down.

"*sniff* sorry about that, I'm not used to losing, especially to meanies like you." Whitney said in a pouty tone.

"Can you please stop calling me that." I said sighing.

"Fine…...I guess you want your badge right?" Whitney said crossing her arms.

"Yes that would be nice, sorry if I made you upset, but a gym battle is gym battle and you owe me one."

"Uughh, fine take it." Whitney said holding out a metal badge and check.

The badge was square shaped and yellow in color, it looked rather plain. I claimed my prizes and put the badge next to my other two. I was about to say something about heading out but I was cut off by Whitney.

"Hey would like to stay for tea time!" Whitney said in cheerful tone like she forgotten about the fact she was crying.

How does this girl function?

"Um no thanks." I said scratching the back of my neck.

"Yeah sorry Whitney we have to get going." Lyra lied.

She too wanted to get out of here as much as I did, granted Whitney isn't that bad, but we both felt a little awkward being around her.

"Oh okay, well if you every want to come over and have fun I'm always here." Whitney said cheerfully waving us good bye.

We said our goodbyes and made our way out of the gym. That was certainly one of the more memorable battles I've had. Man that's twice in a row I had a pokemon evolve in one of these gym battles, damn I'm lucky. I think I need to start training more though, that luck of mine is probably going to run out soon. I wonder what we should do tomorrow.

* * *

**I Had recently came back for a visit to Brigantine and I drew ideas from my trip to the nearby boardwalk in Atlantic city for the Goldenrod tower.**

**Also true story, It took me like eight tries to beat whitney, I was so frustrated that my lvl 25 croconaw (who i also named Nile) couldn't beat this damn cow. So I went and powered leveled Nile till he was a Feraligatr. Yeah there's no kill like over kill!**

**Hope you enjoyed this chapter, now back to shark week!**


	16. Chapter 16

**So I've been told by many nice reviewers that I'm doing a good job with this heartsoulshipping fanfic. Which is funny because this is literally (and no joke) my first attempt at romance...ever. But then again I'm an avid nerd and story telling is something I've been picking up on over the years so I guess watching animes movies and tv shows with a romance hidden in there has helped. (but still, I can't believe this many people like what I'm doing.)**

**Once again I'm having issues with grammar (Ex: I have a bad tendency to leave out the 'a' in phrases like "next to 'a' bridge" leaving me with "next to bridge") so I'd love any help from those who catch simple mistakes so feel free to PM me.**

**Damn you Grammar! My Arch-nemesis!**

* * *

Chapter 16: A Rather Dark Typing

"Hitmontop no! Come on hang in there!" the pathetic trainer called out as his pokemon tried to stand.

"Alpha finish him with flamethrower, and let's get out this over with." I ordered in bored manner.

My Typhlosion, without as much as a second thought, unleashed his burning fury upon the hapless fighting type thus winning me my final victory in this sad excuse for an underground tournament. After hearing about a tournament for the toughest trainers was being held in the Goldenrod sewers I thought I might actually have a challenge after beating that sad excuse for a gym leader Whitney. I was sadly mistaken; there were nothing but a bunch of petty thugs down here. That ten battle tournament was laughable at the least.

"I can't believe this…I've…I've never lost like this before." The trainer said falling to his knees looking at his burnt pokemon.

"Get used to it kid. Now then, you over there," I said pointing my finger at the one in charge of this operation.

"Give me that damn prize money so I can leave this dump." I said holding out my hand demanding my prize.

"Here take it and leave you freak!" the ring leader of this rag tag bunch of thugs said throwing the wad of cash in my direction.

I snapped my fingers and Alpha quickly gathered the scattered bills causing the various thugs to step back in fear as he moved past them. He then quickly came back to me like he knows he should and gave me the money. I quickly counted how much there was; I wasn't pleased by what I saw.

"This is half of what you said the prize was. You really think you can fool me you son of a bitch! Alpha show them what I do to those who try to rip me off." I said angrily as I crumpled up the wade of cash in my fist.

My fire type quickly reignited his back flames and showed off his power.

"No wait please, we don't have any more money please just leave us alone, I'm serious." The ring leader said taking a step back like a coward.

It was then I saw that frail look in this man's eyes, I've seen it before in that bastard Gold's eyes, he really doesn't have the money. Ah to hell with it; this isn't worth my time anyway, besides four thousand will be enough to last me awhile. I glanced to the side and saw that Alpha was about to attack without my command. This stupid brute may be strong, but he needs to learn his place, he should know better than to attack without my word.

"Alpha calm yourself you stupid brute! I didn't tell you to attack!" I said as I shot him a glare.

Alpha although reluctant extinguished his flames and got back down on all fours but never took his glare off the thugs in front of him. The occupants in this filthy sewer all stood still too afraid to provoke my Typhlosion. I shot my gaze around the room and saw that these people were eager to see me leave. Seeing as there was nothing left for me here I think I'll give them what they want.

"Fine, I can see I'm not welcomed, Alpha return." I said returning my strongest pokemon.

I then turned around and made my way out of here. The thugs standing between me and the exit didn't hesitate to move out of my way. I can't believe how pointless this whole tournament was, Alpha and Beta made short work of these trainers. But Gamma can't even hold her own in any of these fucking fights. That Chikorita is useless; all she does is attack blindly and cry!

I don't understand it, I staked out that lab in New Bark for weeks for the very purpose of stealing three powerful pokemon. Elm was supposed to have three of the most well bred pokemon in Johto. But apparently only that Totodile Gold got and the Cyndaquil had any potential leaving me with this stupid Chikorita that can't even evolve.

Great now I'm reminded again of that irritating trainer, god just saying that name Gold piss's me off; I can't believe he already got his third badge just the other day. Then again beating that sniveling crybaby of a gym leader was mere child's play, I can see how even he could've won. Still the fact that's he's one step ahead of me still gets to me. It's like everywhere I go I keep running into him or hearing about him. And that stupid girl he hangs with really annoys me too.

As I was walking down the sewer pipe my thoughts were interrupted when I heard voices coming from down the tunnel I was passing. I wonder if one of those thugs went to get some more people and is now looking to get revenge. It'll take more than just a couple thugs to scare me off. No that can't be it, it only sounds like there are two of them.

I don't know why, but I feel like something was telling me that I needed to investigate these voices. It's strange, I've had this…this… intuition that tells me whenever something needs my attention. I've had it ever since I had that dream about the snowy mountain and those two mysterious pokemon that spouted some incomprehensible riddles about fate. My father mocked me for it but I'm a firm believer in fate and the supernatural, and I know for a fact that this dream is connected to the intuition I have. Still that phrase the 'messiah and the pariah' still bugs me though.

Regardless that feeling of mine has never failed me once and I wasn't about to distrust it; considering it has gotten me out of some close calls with those fucking cops. So I decided to head down the sewage passage to my left and investigate these voices. I went down the side of the passageway hugging close to the wall and came to a corner before stopping with my back pressed against the concrete. I could hear the voices more clearly now, I think I'll stay hidden and just listen in on them for now.

"So what was the tournament like, find any new recruits?" said the voice of some man.

"No I didn't, but there was one kid who came out of nowhere and wrecked everyone in the tournament."

Seems like who ever these are they're talking about me; they better watch their tongues or else I might just step out from the shadows with my fire type.

"Did you try to recruit the kid?" the man inquired.

"Trust me, if you were there you wouldn't want to get close to him, his pokemon were monsters and he wasn't exactly in the mood to be talked to."

Who the hell are these guys, and who the hell are they recruiting for? I decided to look around the corner and get a glimpse of them. Luckily I know how to survey people without being noticed, you'd be surprised how unobservant people are when they're engrossed in pointless chatter. I creeped my head around the corner and saw two people standing down the passage way. One of them I recognized from the tournament as one of those miserable thugs, but the other was wearing a black getup with three red strips on his shoulder, along with the Rocket logo on his chest. Oh great, Team Rocket is here, those freaking good for nothing weaklings. Just looking at him piss's me off.

"So have you heard the rumors about some new deal the executives made?" said the one in the rocket outfit.

"What deal?"

"I heard that Rocket has enlisted some outside help, I think it has to do with buying powerful pokemon."

What are these two talking about? Sounds to me like the pathetic Team Rocket has finally decided to move up in the world. Now those thugs have graduated from selling petty narcotics in a cave to retrieving more powerful pokemon.

"Like what kind of pokemon?"

"I don't know really, all I know is that the guy who sold it to the executives was so happy that he threw a disco party in the Golden rod tower."

"A party? What kind of person is this guy, wouldn't the higher ups have done something about that? From what you're saying that moron could've ruined everything."

"Normally they would, but I heard that he represents a very powerful group and that it would be best not to anger them. The guy went by the name Mr. B and that's all I know."

For a crime organization that wants to remain in the dark they're doing a terrible job with who they associate with. Just as I thought, they're all brawn and no brains.

"Regardless of recent events, I came here to tell you you've been reassigned."

"To do what?" responded the thug look alike.

"Rocket is after a new pokemon they want for some program and are redirecting some of us stationed in Goldenrod to get it."

"What is it?"

"It's something called a Sneasel a dark and ice type pokemon, it's been sighted in a small town not too far from Goldenrod called Gold Gate."

A Sneasel? I've never heard of this pokemon before, but if it's worth Team Rocket's time it must be powerful. If I get that pokemon before Rocket does, I'll have the next tool I need to become the champion. Those fools will never know what hit them. I've heard enough of these two dimwits, its time that I got out of here. If I leave now I can make it to this Gold Gate town before they do and steal their chances at a powerful pokemon. This better be worth my time, if I get there and find out this pokemon is worthless I don't know what I'll do.

Luckily for me slipping away from these two was laughably easy; the art of stealth is something that comes naturally to me. Once out of those retched sewers I noticed that it was night time in this city, which is good, the nighttime crowds here are massive and will make it easy to disappear if those damn cops get a fix on me. But that shouldn't be much of an issue because ever since Gold boasted his victory over Team Rocket the police have been more focused on finding them then me. I guess he isn't as worthless as I thought; he at least did me a favor. But that doesn't change what I think of him, next time I see him I'll make sure to put him down.

Being that I was already near the edge of this miserable city, getting on the road north will be quick and easy. But regrettably I need to eat something first, I haven't eaten in over two days. I've been avoiding those stupid restaurants on purpose, but luckily there's one up the street. It's some kind of stupid burger joint; I hate these kinds of places, but I need to eat. I walked into the dinner and found an empty booth in the back. It wasn't long till one of the waiters here finally noticed I was there.

"Welcome, is there anything I can get.."

"Cheeseburger and water and make it quick." I ordered in a quick fashion without as much as glancing at the man.

"Um…sure right away sir." The waiter said meekly.

"Good." I said in a lackluster tone with my arms crossed.

The waiter then walked off in hurry to get away from me. And now I have to wait twenty minutes for some shit tasting burger, great. I leaned back in the cushioned booth seat and sighed. Seeing as I needed some form of entertainment I looked around this boring joint. I saw a brochure at my table in that thing that holds the condiments. Out of boredom I grabbed it to see what it was.

It looked like one of those stupid brochures for a local tourist attraction that no one cares about. Its title read, "Burned Tower now open for Tours."

"What the hell is this about?" I muttered to myself quietly.

I turned it over and read the back. "Once believed home of legendary bird Ho-oh, the burned brass tower has now been cleared safe enough for tours. If you're lucky you may even see the legend return."

I then read the rest of it and it entailed a story of the how the tower was burned. After I read it I felt that intuition of mine go off again. I don't know why, but I feel like I need to go there. Once again that intuition has yet to fail me; perhaps I can find that Ho-oh pokemon there. I may not know much about legends but I know for a fact that nothing would stand in my way if captured something like that.

With that I put the brochure back and went back to looking around. It was then that I noticed that there was a bag on the seat across from me. It was a backpack that was a very pale pinkish white with a pokeball design on it. Some poor sap must've left it here after they finished their food; I bet I can get some extra cash from it.

But the moment I reached for the bag I saw a girl enter the diner. She looked worried and was looking around the place frantically. She wore black and yellow sport shorts, a pink shirt, and a white vest like jacket. Her light blue hair was up in those stupid pigtails that reminded me of that irritating girl that Gold hangs with. I can already tell that she was the one who was stupid enough to lose her bag. Looks like I won't be getting any extra cash, I don't need the cops on me again.

This stupid girl seems to have forgotten what seat she was in earlier like a moron and was glancing frantically at each table she past, and was slowly making her way to me. Uggh, just wonderful when all I wanted was peace and quiet.

The girl walked up to my table and said in a worried manner, "Umm, I'm sorry to bother you… but…. have you seen a pinkish white bag?"

I merely looked at her with an uninterested glance and then motioned towards the bag at the other end. It's not that I actually cared about helping her; it's just that I wanted her to leave a soon as possible. Her blue eyes followed where I pointed my fingers and she looked excited when she saw her bag.

"Oh my god thank you!" she said in an irritatingly gleeful voice.

She then grabbed it and turned back to me with smile. Oh god, now she's going to thank me for some stupid reason because she thinks I actually cared.

"Thank you so much I was so worried when I couldn't find it, I have a bad habit of losing things. Oh, where are my manners, my name is Kris and uh….." she said holding out her hand to shake but she hesitated like she noticed something.

"Do..do I know you from somewhere?" she asked.

"Look you have your bag now can you piss off already." I said shooting her a glare.

She took a step back and said, "Jeez what the hell is your problem? I just wanted to thank you."

"I don't need your thanks, now leave me alone."

"Hmmph, fine jerk." Kris said slinging her bag onto her back and leaving me.

I don't like that look she gave me. It's like she knew who I was for a split second. I think I need to get out of here as fast as possible, I have a bad feeling she may call the cops on me. Luckily for me the food arrived shortly after she left, so once I saw an opening I causally walked out of the dinner with the food. I need to get a move on before that stupid waiter realizes I left without paying.

Once on the streets I quickly blended into the crowd, whether it be that girl or the restaurant, the cops will be looking for me soon. Good thing that the road out of Goldenrod is up ahead. Once out of the city I made my way into the woods along the road. God I fucking hate having to travel this way, but with the cops most likely looking for me I have to suffer.

After walking for awhile I stopped to get my bearings and pulled out my map. By the looks of things Gold Gate town isn't much farther. That name Gold Gate must mean it's the gateway town to Goldenrod for those traveling south. All I have to do is head north for about an hour or two and I'll get there.

Wait a second, something isn't right, I feel like someone is watching me. I turned around quickly to check my surroundings, but nothing was there. This is odd that gut feeling of mine has never been wrong before. Whatever, it's probably not that important; being on the run for so long I guess I'm just paranoid. I decided to continue my way through this wretched forest, but I paid closer attention to my surroundings in case I'm wrong. It didn't take long till I got that feeling again. This time it was like a red alert screaming inside my head.

"Who the hell is there?" I demanded turning around grabbing Alpha's pokeball from my belt.

My eyes scanned my surroundings looking for anything moving.

"Over here jackass!"

I turned to face the voice and to my dismay I saw that blue haired girl from earlier standing about fifteen yards out on an earthen ledge. It looked like she had just stepped from the side a tree that she was probably hiding behind.

"You again?! The fuck do you want!" I barked looking up at her.

"I knew I remembered you from somewhere, you're Silver, wanted for over a dozen cases of theft and the burglary of pokemon." Kris said shifting her stance and giving me a serious look.

"Yeah and the disappearance of a teenage girl will be added to that list if you don't piss off!" I yelled pointing Alpha's pokeball at her.

"I'm not afraid of you, I'm member of the Rangers and I'm going to bring you in."

Did she say she's a Pokemon Ranger!? Oh great just what I fucking need right now! I can't take on Ranger; they're supposed to be elite law officers. This may be the first time I felt real fear in a long time, and it defiantly showed on my face.

"Now then if you come quietly I won't have too OH CRAP!" said Kris who had took a step forward but then clumsily fell down the side of the ledge she was standing on.

She tumbled a bit and landed with her face first about five yards away from me. She then got up to her knees and held her head out of pain and groaned. I think I might want to retract that last statement I said about them being elite. Is this stupid girl seriously a Pokemon Ranger?

"A Pokemon Ranger huh? Looks to me that you're just a miserable klutz. " I snickered as I continued on my way.

"No wait! I can't let you get away!" Kris said after trying to get up as quickly as she could and holding out a pokeball.

I merely turned and shot a glare telling her I am not to be fucked with. Surprisingly her face showed no sign of backing down, but her legs betrayed her uneasiness for they were quivering.

"For a Pokemon Ranger you defiantly look afraid of me."

"I'm n..not a afraid of you." she said meekly.

"Oh really, we'll see about that. I'd like you to meet my Alpha rank." I said releasing my Typhlosion.

The six foot fire badger once fully formed reared up to his hind legs and stared back at the hapless girl. But instead of that usual response I see in people, Kris stood her ground although she was a bit startled at first. This doesn't seem right, I can't read this person like most, that frail demeanor she gives off is very misleading. She appears weak and helpless but she seems to have an annoying tenacity that won't let her quit, just like that brat Gold.

"I'm not running away, let's go Champ!" she said tossing her pokeball releasing a rather fat looking blue salamander creature with a stupid happy looking blank stare on its face, I think it was called a Quagsire.

"It doesn't have to be like this Silver, if you just give yourself up things will be easier." She said issuing her ultimatum.

As she stood there for a second she glanced at her pokemon. She then had a surprised look on her face.

"Wait a second, Murky? Oh no, I grabbed the wrong ball, not again!" she said worriedly as she quickly tore through her bag trying to find the right pokeball.

I stood there for second perplexed by this clumsy girl. But then I came to my senses and saw my opportunity to finish this quickly.

"I don't have time for this, Alpha attack!" I ordered.

In an instant my Typhlosion charged forward and socked the four foot salamander across the face with a right hook. Kris, who was barely paying attention in search of her other pokemon, jumped back a bit when she saw her pokemon take the hit. But to my surprise the water type didn't seem to care that something so powerful had hit him.

Angered by the lack of response Alpha began to wail on the pokemon with various kicks and punches. But the water type kept shrugging them off like a punching bag and continued to smile like it didn't have a care in the world; it was pissing me off.

"Murky quickly use mud shot!" Kris ordered pointing towards the towering fire type.

Then in the midst of the beating it was receiving the blue salamander fired off globs of mud in rapid succession that pelted Alpha. The attack was a ground type, Alpha's weakness, and it looked like it did a lot of damage to him.

"Get out of there you stupid brute and use flame wheel!"

Alpha followed his commands and dashed away from the muddy onslaught. Then once fully engulfed by flames he charge forward with ferocity as he spun around at intense speeds.

"Murk brace yourself for it then use mud shot again." Kris warned.

The blank creature in response just held out its arms and took Alphas attack head on and once again shrugged it off. But as soon as Alpha came out of his wheel he nailed the hapless pokemon with a drop kick with an intensity that I rarely see from him. Finally this attack was able to knock the salamander off balance. Then in one swift motion Alpha followed up with an uppercut that sent the Quagsire tumbling backwards. My Typhlosion was about to charge in after it before I called out.

"Alpha that's enough! We've already wasted enough fucking time here! Use smokescreen now!" I ordered.

Although reluctant at first, Alpha did what he was told and spewed forth a massive cloud of thick black smoke towards Kris and her dazed pokemon. That hesitation of his is unacceptable, I'll have to teach him a lesson later, but for now I need to get as far from this girl as possible. As Kris and her pokemon were blinded by the smoke I snapped my fingers and called Alpha to follow me.

This is just great, I may have lost that head start I had on Team Rocket because of this sad excuse for a ranger. But regrettably it didn't take long till I could hear someone in pursuit of me. Shit doesn't she ever give up? I don't have time to waste fighting her, I think I should just hide and wait for her to pass. I quickly returned my Typhlosion and saw a nearby tree to scale. I can't believe I've been reduce to this, hiding in god damn trees to avoid a freaking girl. I could easily beat this girl in fight with just Alpha alone if I wanted to, but that will take time, time that I need to get that Sneasel before Rocket does.

Once near the top and fully concealed in darkness I stopped climbing and looked down at the forest floor. In no time at all I could see the blue haired girl walk by. Unfortunately she stopped in her tracks not too far from the tree I was in. She then looked around frantically trying to figure out where I went. Then surprisingly she fell to her knees.

"Damn it he got way, no not again!" she said pounding her hand against the ground.

"I can't do anything right! They'll never let me become a Ranger like this!"

Wait a second she was lying? Figures, Pokemon Rangers are supposed to be elite trainers with almost perfect records. I should've known that this miserable little girl was faking it; she's too much of klutz to be one of them. She must be part of their trial recruitment program. If I recall correctly, in order to become a Ranger you have to pass a trial period where if you prove your worth you can join.

"If I only I could stop messing things up! Why am I so unlucky arrgh!" she cursed.

"That kid Gold made it look so..so easy…why can't I do what he did?" she said moping to herself.

She then sat there like she was sulking in her own self hate. But then I saw her shoot up to her feet like she had a sudden burst of inspiration.

"I just have to try harder, yeah that's it! If I do that I know I can catch that crook and then they'll finally let me be a Ranger." She said getting her hopes up before walking off.

I waited five or so minutes to make sure she was gone before I descended the tree. Great I can't believe how much time I wasted because of this clumsy girl. What's worse is it seems like she won't be giving up on trying to put me behind bars anytime soon. Great just another god damn thing to add to my list of shit I have to deal with.

Once I was out of the tree I looked around to get my bearings again and determined which way north was. I then made my way into the night towards Gold Gate town.

I was able to arrive there in about an hour, though if I was able to travel by road I would've gotten there faster. This town was very small, and much like that Newbark town it looked very residential. At least here the stupid cops won't be actively looking for me for now.

So where to begin? Those Team Rocket members said the Sneasel was part dark type, which probably means it would be hanging around alleyways to remain out of sight. Oh god that means I'm just going to have to freaking wander aimlessly till I see something out of the ordinary. If I didn't know any better I'd say this would be waste of my time, but the promise of powerful pokemon enticed me; I might as well get started.

This town has hardly anybody wandering it's streets at night making it easier to notice my surroundings, but would make it hard to disappear if I needed to. Though watching for any potential trouble was not my priory right now for I was focusing solely on finding any sign of a pokemon in the area. I began to notice many warning posters that were stapled to the telephone poles that stated warnings about this Sneasel, apparently it's been stealing food and jewelry from the homes and business here. Judging by how beat up the posters were I figured they were put up about two to three weeks ago. So this Sneasel has avoided capture for over three weeks with police looking for it. I'm impressed, if something can avoid capture for that long it is defiantly worth my time. Nothing much happened until about a half hour into my search when I felt that intuition kicking in. Something was defiantly watching me.

But I didn't stop to look around, nor did I change the way I was walking. Because I knew that whatever was watching me was well hidden and reacting now will only prompt it to run away. In fact I was purposely walking in manner that conveyed '_easy target_' cause I wanted whatever was looking at me to remain interested. I continued to walk down the various streets not once looking away from where I was walking until I was in the middle of what looked like a park with a children's playground nearby.

This is perfect, I know that whatever was following me was now in this park somewhere with only so many hiding places. Then I listened carefully, this creature may be stealthy, but nothing is perfect, it has to make some form of sound. I waited patiently as I made my rounds across the park until finally I heard the distinct but faint clang of claw and metal.

Instantly I zeroed in on the sound and turned to look towards the playground and saw a small three foot figure looking at me from up top a swing set. It was barley visible but it looked like it had a red feather on its head and a pair of claws on its hands and feet.

The moment it notice that I saw it the pokemon quickly dashed away jumping off the swing set and running across the street to a nearby building. In quick response I let loose Beta.

"After that Sneasel Beta, and don't let get away!" I ordered the magnetic machine as it hovered in pursuit of the dark type.

The Sneasel had already scaled the building by this point and was running along the roof tops as my Magnemite flew after it. I ran along the street to keep up with what was happening looking up at the acrobatic creature easily jump from roof top to roof top.

"Use thunder wave already you stupid machine!" I barked at my Magnemite who had yet to do anything to the dark type.

But before Beta could discharge the attack the Sneasel spun around for a moment and threw shards of what looked like ice at Beta like shurikens. This caused the magnet pokemon to missfire and miss its target completely. This creature is fast to react and a good shot too, he'll make the perfect tool.

Before Beta was able to attempt another static attack the nimble pokemon raced back towards the hovering machine. Then it leaped into the air and struck Beta with one of it's claws disorientating the machine before landing back on the ground and running away.

"Beta you disappoint me, don't make me get Alpha out here and punish you again! Now use thunder wave and don't miss!" I said threatening the machine.

After recovering from the disorientation Beta glanced back at me with a worried look in its eye and began letting loose more pulses of static towards the fast pokemon. But once again the dark type continued to dodge the attacks with ease bobbing and weaving left to right as it ran along the roof tops.

By this time some of the few people on the streets had taken notice of what was happening. Great more unwanted attention, if I don't hurry some of the Rocket agents that may have gotten here already might intervene.

"Arrgh, Beta you fail me once again, Alpha get that stupid pokemon!" I said tossing the pokeball so that Alpha would appear on the rooftops.

Alpha burst forth in a flash of light and instantly took off on all fours across the roof tops. That Sneasel might be fast, but Alpha is faster and stronger. The fires raged on his back as he raced towards the dark type. Once again the Sneasel spun round throwing the ice shards but Alpha quickly dodged them. Amazingly the dark type began running backwards with almost the same efficacy as running normally and continued to barrage Alpha with more and more ice shards.

Alpha using his flamethrower attack was able to destroy most of the incoming projectiles and was closing in on the dark type. Suddenly the Sneasel peered over its shoulder and noticed that the line of buildings was ending. It quickly turned back around to face where it was going. It skidded to a halt when it realized it had reached the end of the city block and couldn't make the jump to the other side of the road.

Using this opportunity Alpha rammed into the small dark type causing both of them to fall off the roof into the street. People that were passing by in the street below scattered as the two came down from the roof tops. Alpha landed on all fours, but the Sneasel crashed into the hard cement. Then like a wolf Alpha quickly pounced forward and pinned the dark type to the ground with its front legs.

"Excellent work Alpha. You on the other hand," I said catching up to the two and then looked up at Beta.

"You disappoint me Beta, Alpha will have to punish you for this." I said glaring at Beta before returning the scared machine.

I noticed by this point that there were a few other people watching me from a distance. I need to make this quick I can't have one of them recognize me. I then looked towards the weak but struggling dark type that was pinned by Alpha. The Typhlosion was more than eager to continue its fight.

"Congratulations, you've been promoted to Beta." I said as I reached for one of the Ultraballs I had stolen from Goldenrod and tossed it at the Sneasel.

Ultraballs almost never fail against weakened pokemon and this time was no different. With the Magnemite demoted to Gamma that means that the useless Chikorita is now Delta. With catching the Sneasel out of the way I needed to disappear, so I quickly returned Alpha and ran off into the night.

It was already late into the night and going to the next town was not an option at this point, looks like I'm going to have to spend the night on the out skirts of the town. I don't have the luxury of a hotel room this time thanks to the commotion I made earlier, they might recognize me. But now that I finally have another adequate pokemon on my team it's time to dispose the unwanted weight before I sleep.

I went deep into the forest that borders this town with Alpha watching my back in case someone like Team Rocket gets the balls to follow me from the town. After I deemed the distance far enough I grabbed the Chikorita's pokeball and looked for the permanent release function on the device. Once the grass type formed on the ground it looked around confused. It then started quivering when it saw Alpha by my side.

Alpha took a step forward growling at the stout pokemon eager to give the Chikorita another beating for being too weak. I could see tears of fear start to form in the grass types eyes as it looked to me for help, for I was only one that kept Alpha from disciplining her. I've grown really tired of seeing it look at me like that.

"I have no more use for you. You're pathetic and weak and I already found a replacement for you." I said as I turned around and starting walking away.

I didn't see it at first but I could hear the Chikorita start to cry and move forward in a desperate attempt to not be left behind in the dark. But as I turned back I snapped my fingers allowing Alpha to pounced forward swipe the grass type across the face and knock her to the ground.

Glaring back at the weak pokmon I said, "Don't you dare follow me or else that bruise on your face will be the least of your worries, got it!"

The pathetic pokemon continued to cry looking up at me.

"Alpha, if that pokemon so much as moves from that spot you can do as you please." I said as I continued on my way with Alpha peering over his shoulder as he followed.

I never looked back, why would I, I have no time for weaklings like that Chikorita. All I care about is the strong, the ones that will make me untouchable, the pokemon that will make me better than my father ever was. If they do not measure up then they are left behind.

Now then all that's left to do is to see if the new Beta will be needing Alpha to put him in his place, or if it will listen to me like it should. That is, after the newly demoted Gamma gets his proper punishment for failing me again. If he doesn't show any improvement soon I'll leave him behind too.

* * *

This is hopeless, I've searched the woods around Gold Gate for hours and I still can't find Silver. Damn that thief, where is he? I know he was heading for Gold Gate town I was sure of it, I mean he was heading north where else would he go? Argh, if only I didn't pick the wrong pokemon I would've been able to keep up with that fire type of his. I wish I wasn't so unlucky, nothing ever seems to work out for me when I need it too. I guess it's time I call it quits for tonight.

With that in mind I turned around and starting making my way back to town. But before I made it very far I heard something odd.

"What's that?" I said looking around to where that peculiar noise was coming from.

It sounded like crying, and it sounded like it was coming from over to my left. Someone or something needed my help! I instantly started off towards the weeping in the hopes that I could help out.

It wasn't long till I found who was crying. I came across a little clearing with a tree stump in the middle. On top of it was a Chikorita with its face buried in its front legs crying.

"Oh no are you hurt little guy?" I said in a concerned voice walking towards it.

The pokemon, once it heard me, instantly shot to its feet and looked at me with tear filled eyes along with the look of horror on its face. It was then that I saw the various bruises, cuts, and scars on the pour thing's body, especially the nastiest of them all the large bruise on its left eye. I moved forward again but the pokemon took a step back as it continued to cry even more.

"No wait don't cry, it's okay. I'm not here to hurt you, I just want to help you." I said in calming voice walking to the edge of the tree stump.

The pokemon moved back again was I got closer but stumbled and almost fell off the edge of the stump.

"Look out!" I said as I dashed forward and caught the pokemon before it hit the ground.

The Chikorita looked up at me as I held it in my arms. It then started to cry loudly again and squirmed trying to get out of my arms.

"Ssshhhh it's okay, it's okay, I don't want to hurt you you're safe now." I said in a light voice trying to calm the poor thing as I cradled the little pokemon in my arms.

It continued to try and get away but slowly it stopped squirming and starred up at me with its tear filled eyes.

"Are you okay? Did someone do this to you?" I said gently rubbing its head trying to comfort the crying pokemon.

The Chikorita just looked up at me with tears still running down its bruised face for a few moments before it slowly nodded its head.

"Don't worry, I'm not like whoever did this to you. I'm a Pokemon Ranger…well sorta. But I'll make sure you get treated." I said in a caring voice.

Something in the Chikoritas eyes shifted, it seemed to calm down and the tears seemed to be stopping like it was no longer afraid of me.

"My name is Crystal, but everyone calls me Kris. I'll take care of you and everything will be alright."

"I promise."

* * *

**I wanted to have Crystal get involved much earlier in the story but never had any ideas on how to include her until recently.**

**Even though technically Silver should have the Chikortia as his main pokemon in terms of type advantage I thought that was a bad idea. Because how scary is a Meganium really? I thought that it would be scarier if the most common starter who is usually associated as the hero's pokemon became the villain and would be even more intimidating if it was actually stronger than it's weakness water (too some degree).**

**I feel like a broken record here but once again hope you enjoyed this chapter from Silver's perspective. **

**(Hmmm, I wonder if anyone has picked up on the foreshadowing I put in place?)**


	17. Chapter 17

**There are many times that i wish i could somehow incorporate music in my stories but, that's something film has over literature. Plus i think it might be lame to have "Click here for this moment in for story for music" cause it would disrupt the flow of the story. Unless this is something that many other writers on this site do then let me know how they do it.**

**Any way enjoy the chapter as always.**

* * *

Chapter 17: Do Ghost's Dream of Thunder Punch?

"So Gold you did a pretty good job in that last battle." Lyra said complementing my good efforts.

"Yeah those guys were tough, its shame that I lost the last fight." I said shrugging as me, Nile, and Lyra walked on the road to Ecruteak town.

We had just recently met up with a group of four trainers before leaving Gold Gate town. They offered to have a quick battle and I took their challenge. I said that I needed more training and four battles would do the trick.

One of them was bug type user and the other three had varied teams. I was able to win against three of them but the last one Josh was able to beat me. His electric type Voltorb was able to defeat both Merlin and Nile easily. Although Duke was able to beat the pokeball look alike, he was then defeated by Josh's Sandslash. The guy did have five badges though, so I shouldn't be too hard on myself for losing. I'm actually proud that I was able to win most of the fights.

"Yeah it would seem that electricity is a major weakness for your team." Lyra said as she was ironically holding her Mareep in her arms.

"*giggle* just like in the shower." Lyra said slyly as Teeka snickered.

"Oh god, I swear if you electrocute me in the shower again I'm gonna.."

"Do what?" Lyra said turning and pointing at me like she was calling me out on my threat.

"I'll uh…." I said a little flustered by the way her sly eyes were looking at me.

I stood there unsure of what to say because the cute expression on her face made it hard to think straight. After few moments Lyra snickered to herself.

"I knew it." she said slyly as she began to walk again.

"Knew what?" I said following right next to her.

"Knew that you wouldn't do anything." Lyra giggled

I wanted to say something like "just you wait" and "I'll get even with you" as a comeback, but I like her too much to do that. So instead I just sighed prompting her to giggle over her small victory. Besides I'll never admit this to her but I kinda like it when she pulls pranks on me. The way she always laughs when she sees me fall victim to her latest scheme is something I've come to love.

Like the time she rigged the rope swing to snap over by the river in Newbark. I still don't know how she did it, but she was able to make it so the rope would only break under my weight instead of hers. So when I swung on it the rope snapped and I fell into a muddy puddle that was near the river side; I think her Marill was responsible for the mud.

I can see how she's so good at being a coordinator, her ingenuity and creativity never ceases to amaze me; and it doesn't hurt she looks pretty too. Dear god it's hard to stop thinking about her. If Lyra could hear what I was thinking half the time as of late she'd think I'm a creep.

"Hey do you know who the gym leader is in Ecruteak?" Lyra asked looking up at me with her cute eyes.

"Oh I uh, I actually don't know who he or she is; I've been neglecting to do my research again." I said shrugging.

"Oh well it might make it more interesting if you don't know."

"Well after those four fights I think I can handle any surprises; isn't that right Nile?" I said looking to my right and patting my prehistoric looking reptile on the head.

"Have you thought of teaching any of them new moves?" Lyra asked.

"Well I thought about teaching Nile that wave thing from when Duke was fighting the Clefairy, but I don't know where to begin."

"Hmm, if only someone who knew how to teach moves to their pokemon would help me." I said sarcastically.

"*Chuckle* Fat chance, those secrets stay with me. You'll just have to do what I did and figure it out on your own." Lyra retorted.

And there's that phrase again "you'll have to figure that out on your own" her response to everything. God those words both piss me off and make me smile.

"Besides Gold you're a good trainer you always think of something." she said complementing me.

"Um thanks." I said timidly.

She smiled back at me and it looked like she was going to say something else, but she stopped when both of us noticed a flash of light that came from the forest to our right. It was then preceded by the indistinguishable cackle of electricity and over that were the cries of several pokemon.

"What the heck was that?" Lyra said as both of us faced the direction we saw the light.

"I don't know, but I have a bad feeling about this." I replied as my body tensed up for what might happen next.

As we stood there I could see several more flashes of light and each time they were followed by the sound of electricity. The flashes seemed to be getting closer and closer and Lyra looked a little uneasy as she held Teeka tighter. Nile took a few steps in front of us and readied himself for trouble. Over the cackle of electricity that was drawing closer I could now distinguish the voices of several people that I think were yelling commands.

"What the hell is happening out there?" Lyra said as she inched a little closer to me.

I didn't know how to respond I was clueless, but if I had to guess I'd say that something was being chased by whoever these voices belonged to. They were defiantly heading towards us and soon I could finally make out what some of the voices were saying; like "Don't let it get away!" and "Where did it go!?". Then we heard something crashing through the undergrowth in front of us. It sounded like it was sprinting but was having a hard time managing a steady gait; it must be struggling to get away from these people.

Suddenly something came out of the bushes in front of us in a full sprint but skidded to a halt when it saw us. It was roughly as tall as Lyra if not a bit shorter, and had yellow fur with black thunderbolt markings on its body. It stood on two feet and had large forearms and was breathing very heavily. The pokemon oddly enough was wearing an asian style straw hat on its head which had two holes in it where what looked like antenna poked out of it. The creature also looked very beat up as it stared at us with only one of its eyes open. What was odd about this pokemon was the fact that it was carrying what looked like a pokemon egg in its left arm that was dark marine blue in color with black spots on it.

The pokemon was clearly not expecting to see anyone ahead of it because when it laid its only open eye on us it quickly backed up a bit and held the egg closer to itself like it was protecting it. Then it lifted its other hand and pointed it towards us making a pistol shape with its fingers as sparks began to emit from its pointer finger. Before Lyra and I could react to the obvious attempt to attack us the pokemon fell to its knees and threw its hand in front of it trying to stay up. It then started coughing from exhaustion.

"Its hurt! Gold we have to help it!" Lyra pleaded with me seeing this bruised and beaten pokemon try to stand.

Before I could reply we saw three dark colored dog like pokemon come out of the bushes from behind the beaten electric type followed by three men in Rocket uniforms.

"Team Rocket!" I said angrily clenching my fist.

The three men and their Houndours didn't seem too thrilled to see us.

They stood there for split second before the one in the middle said, "Oh great it's a bunch of kids, look you'd better fuck off you little twerps if you don't want to get hurt!"

Amazingly, before either of us could respond, the beaten yellow pokemon quickly shot back up to its feet turning around with electricity surging through its free arm. I quickly put the pieces to together and realized that this pokemon was trying to protect the egg it was holding from these goons. I knew what I had to do.

"Nile help that pokemon quickly!" I ordered as Nile quickly responded and ran past the electric pokemon bearing his teeth towards the three Rocket members and their pokemon.

"Teeka you too!" Lyra said letting her electric sheep down as it to dashed forward to stand by Nile.

The mystery electric type looked confused by the two pokemon that rushed forward to its aid before it fell to its knees again still clutching the dark blue egg.

"Fine you asked for it, attack!" the Rocket thug called out as the other two ordered their Houndours to attack.

"Nile use water gun!"

"And Teeka use thunder shock!"

With that the duo unleashed their respective elements towards the three Houndours that charged forward. Two of them were nailed by the attacks and dazed, but the third rushed forward towards Teeka. It was about to attack the small sheep but was stopped when Nile rammed into it protecting her. But the other two quickly got back on their feet and started to circle them. They seemed more interested in the wounded electric type and Nile took notice to this and tried his best to stand between it and the Houndours.

"Houndour use ember!" one of the goons yelled.

I then saw all three of the dark type hounds ready their fire attacks.

"Nile quickly use water gun and hold them off, I'm sending in help." I said as I grabbed Merlin and Dukes pokeballs and tossed them.

Nile tried his best to fend off the fiery attacks along with Teeka as my other two pokemon took shape. By this point the Team Rocket thugs were looking weary as my entire team took to the field.

"Merlin use your shields and protect that pokemon, Nile and Duke you're on offence Go!" I said issuing my commands.

"And Teeka stay and help protect with Merlin" Lyra called out.

All of our pokemon acknowledged what they were to do and went to work. Merlin proceeded to put up both reflect and light screen around Teeka and the wounded pokemon as Nile and Duke dashed forward and entered into melee with the three dark types. Nile being stronger than Duke was able to take two of them on at once while Duke handled the other. Meanwhile Teeka let loose bolts of static into the fray whenever possible.

With all of the pokemon working together we were able to defeat the thug's pokemon rather swiftly. The one that seemed in charge of the other two gritted his teeth as he realized he was no match of my entire team.

"You'll regret getting involved you brats!" he yelled looking at me.

"Why don't you piss off before I have Nile and Duke tear you all a new one!" I threatened as Nile and Duke growled at the three thugs.

They all took steps back with fear on their faces before they all returned their Houndours and went back into the woods. Wow that was a rather dark thing for me to say, I'm not used to making threats to people. Lyra and I waited for a minute or two before we could let our guards down. With Team Rocket gone all of us including our pokemon focused on the passed out electric type with the straw hat.

"What is it?" Lyra asked.

"I don't know, but whatever it is he was trying to protect that egg in his arm from them." I responded.

"What does Team Rocket want with an egg?" Lyra said kneeling down to take the egg from the knocked out yellow pokemon.

"I don't know."

"Well we have to get him to a pokemon center and quick, he looks badly hurt." Lyra said in a concerned tone.

"I know, but how are we supposed to move him without hurting him more?" I said pondering on how to help.

"Wait, Gold you can use one of your pokeballs. If you catch him we can take him to Ecruteak safely." Lyra suggested.

"Oh good idea." I said reaching for a spare.

I quickly caught the passed out pokemon and stashed the ball away in my bag.

"Alright let's get out of here before those goons come back with more." I said as we both left the area as quickly as possible.

I kept my pokemon out for the time being in case Rocket caught up with us, but we were able to make it to Ecruteak city before long. Without hesitation we went to the nearest pokemon center, we didn't have time to notice the scenery. Lyra and I waited in the center for what felt like forever until one of the nurses came out from the back room.

"I'm pleased to say that your Electabuzz is stable now, but is still unconscious." the nurse said as she looked at a pamphlet on clipboard.

Lyra and I both breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing the news.

"When do you think he'll wake up?" I asked.

"We're not sure, but he should be up within the next two days or so, he took quite a beating." she replied.

"Well at least he's safe now along with this egg." Lyra said as she relaxed a bit and leaned back into the chair she was sitting in while holding the blue egg.

"I wonder what kind of pokemon is in there." I said looking at the egg in Lyra's arms.

"I don't know, maybe it's a blue pokemon." Lyra said taking a closer look at the egg.

"I'm not sure it works like that. I mean robin eggs are blue but they grow up to be red." I said shrugging.

"No I'm almost positive that pokemon eggs reflect the color they become. And this shade of blue is so dark it's almost black, its just like your hair Gold." Lyra said pointing at the tuft of hair I always let hang to the side

"Maybe we found your long lost brother *giggle*" she said in that sly voice of hers.

"Oh ha ha, very funny." I said in dull tone which made Lyra laugh.

"Well whatever it is I hope it's cute." Lyra squealed.

"Wait you plan on keeping it?"

"Well of course I do, I mean you caught that Electabuzz so he's pretty much on your team now. So I find it only fair that I get the egg."

"I guess that makes sense." I said leaning back into the chair.

As I sat there I wondered how long it would take before that egg hatched, it shouldn't take that long I hope. My thoughts were then interrupted when I heard a commotion coming from the other side of the room.

"*Gasp* how did he get out!?" said one of the nurses dropping their clipboard.

Lyra and I both turned our heads to see what was going on. We were both shocked when we saw the Electabuzz standing in the middle of the room with various bandages around its body and wearing its straw hat. It had a very serious look on its face as it peered out from under the rim of its round hat. It then started walking towards us.

When he walked up to the chairs we were in he stared at the egg in Lyra's arms. He then sat against the nearby wall with his legs crossed and tilting his straw hat over his eyes before crossing his arms. He sat there like he was meditating but that serious look never left his face. The rest of the occupants were staring over at us, curious about what was going on.

"Gold why did he leave the medical room?" Lyra said breaking the silence.

"I think he wanted to see if the egg was okay." I replied.

The Electabuzz tilted his hat in response to what I said, which I think is his way of saying yes.

"Well I'm sorry to interrupt but uh, your pokemon hasn't fully healed yet. We need to take him back immediately." said one of the nurses who walked over to us.

To which the Electabuzz responded by tilting the rim of his hat up and giving the nurse a rather scary look that said _"I'm not leaving, got it."_

"On second thought maybe he's just fine, heh." The nurse said meekly scratching the back of her neck as the tension in the room rose a little.

That look that he just gave the nurse eerily reminded me of Silver.

"Well um, anyway Gold now that he's awake are you going to give him a name?" Lyra said trying to defuse the tension.

"Um okay…you uh, you alright if we give you name?" I asked the Electabuzz.

He leaned back against the wall and shrugged like he didn't really care one way or the other.

"Well then I think I have a good idea for a name then. Hey Lyra, who was your favorite character from Mortal Kombat again? You know the one you used to royally woop my ass." I asked.

"You mean Raiden?"

"*snap* Yeah that's it Raiden, it fits perfectly. See he has the straw hat and everything. Well what do ya say?" I asked the Electabuzz.

Once again he just shrugged, but made no indication that he hated it.

"Why not just Ray? Raiden is a little nerdy even for you." Lyra snickered.

"Alright fine then, just Ray." I said settling on the name.

"Well if Ray here doesn't need any more treatment, then I hope you two have a nice day." the nurse said walking back to her desk.

"Yeah I think we should get going." I said to Lyra.

Lyra nodded her head in agreement as we both thanked the nurses for helping Ray and left the building. Ray followed us with his arms still crossed and held his head low so that his hat hide most of his face. He would occasionally glance around checking his surroundings like he's paranoid that someone is actively after the egg that Lyra was holding.

Neither of us talked that much as we made our way across this town. We were both a little on edge by the serious nature of the pokemon that followed us. Ray is unlike any pokemon I have ever met before; he must be really dedicated to protecting that egg.

"So um…" Lyra said trying to break the awkward silence.

"You think we should rent a room at a hotel before we do anything else?" Lyra suggested.

"Actually that's not a bad idea, let's see if we can find one" I said looking around the city.

I was able to notice the overall design of this city for the first time. This city was a lot like Violet city in its ornamental design, but seemed to be taken to the next level. Most of the buildings here, and even the normal houses, resembled a pagoda in some way. In fact the traditional culture seems to run deep here because every other person wore some form of robe or kimono like it was casual wear.

To the north east I could see a very tall tower that reminded me of Sprout Tower, but was much taller. To the northwest was what appeared to be the remnants of a tower that was once there.

I remember the story of that tower almost by heart, I used to tell it to Lyra when were ten. The two towers were supposed to be the homes of Lugia and Ho-oh according to legend. Although no one knows what they look like or if they even existed to begin with. But regardless they both disappeared when the tower was either stuck by lighting, or set ablaze by some reckless person in thunderstorm; the actual cause is still unclear. Some claim that Ho-oh and Lugia never returned after the fire because they had lost faith in humans due to the fire taking the lives of several pokemon.

Despite my knowledge legends and myths, I found it a little hard to believe that something like Lugia or Ho-oh actually existed. Which is funny considering I'm often a sucker for ghost stories and other legends. I just never found this particular story to be very credible considering the lack of any concise depiction of what the two pokemon of legend looked like. Some say they were serpents, others say they looked like dragons, or birds, and even some claimed they were four legged beasts.

As we were walking I saw a poster on one of the buildings we passed that said that tours were now occurring in the burnt tower. Which gave me an idea.

"Hey Lyra, you remember the story about the burnt tower?"

"Yeah you told it to me once or twice." she said looking up at me with the egg still in her arms.

"Well they're doing tours of it now, you wanna check that out later?"

"Oh really? That sounds like fun!" Lyra said as her chocolate eyes lit up with excitement.

"Well then I think we'll do the tour after we check out the gym here." I said trying to get a plan in place.

"But first we still need to find a hotel." Lyra reminded me.

"Oh right, right, forgot here hand me the pokegear I'll check the map." I said holding out my hand.

She quickly gave it to me and I was able to pinpoint a hotel for us. We were able to check into a fair sized hotel and get a room with two beds. Once in the room we quickly got settled in. The room was like most hotel rooms, one bathroom, a small kictchen, a living room with a TV, and a rather cool looking balcony.

The first thing I noticed when we got in the room was that Ray had gone over to the corner of the living room and sat with his arms and legs crossed again. He doesn't seem to do much else besides just sit there. He reminds me of a lone samurai who waits patiently for when he is needed. I wonder why he was so determined to protect that egg.

"Hey Gold it's about lunch time we should get everyone fed." Lyra suggested walking out of the kitchen and into the living room where I sat on the couch.

"Yeah that sounds like a good idea." I said reaching for all the pokeballs in my bag.

Lyra and I promptly released all of our pokemon into the room. Teeka and Marill quickly started playing a game with each other, which looked like tag I think. Duke and Nile were hanging out on the balcony while Merlin perched himself on the guard rail of the balcony. Drake was once again hanging out on top of Lyra's hat where he loves to be.

Lyra and I were going around handing food to all of our pokemon when I noticed that Ray has yet to move from his corner.

"Hey Ray, you want any food?" I asked the straw hat wearing pokemon.

Ray just tilted the rim of his hat and didn't seem that interested in eating.

"Come on now, I know you're not in the mood to eat but you need to eat something in order to get better." I pleaded with the stubborn electric type.

Ray tilted his hat up again and gave me a serious look that said _"I'm not hungry."_

"Okay fine have it your way." I said walking away.

The rest of the pokemon in the room were all a little at odds with this newcomer among us. But just like me we left him alone because we all figured that he just needed time before he opened up to us. Besides, Ray was just chased by thugs who were after the egg he was protecting; so he's probably not in the best of moods. After everyone was fed I did a little research and found out where the gym was and the name of the leader. His name was Morty, but I couldn't find anything on what kind of pokemon he used.

"Hey Lyra you ready to get going? I think it's time I tried taking on the gym leader." I said walking up to Lyra who was sitting on the couch.

"Yeah I'm ready whenever you are." she said smiling at me.

"Alright then let's return everyone and head out." I said turning around with pokeballs in hand.

Lyra and I quickly returned all of our pokemon except for Ray.

"Alright Ray we're heading out so lets get you inside your pokeball." I said walking up to him.

But before I pressed the button to return him Ray held up his hand telling me to stop. He then got up to his feet and repositioned his hat before motioning that he was ready to go.

"Gold I think he'd prefer being able to see the egg at all times, just let him walk for now." said Lyra who was standing by the door with the dark blue egg in hand.

Ray tilted his hat signifying that what Lyra said was correct.

"Well fine have it your way." I said shrugging before I put his ball back in my bag.

We left the hotel and made our way towards the southern part of town. I told Lyra about what little I knew about Morty. As Lyra and I chatted Ray continued to walk with his head held low. Jeez this guy seems pissed off all the time.

It didn't take long till we finally arrived to where the gym was supposed to be. But instead of large building I just saw a path that lead into the forest with one of those spiritual gates at the beginning of the path. The gate itself was painted dark purple and had many ancient carvings engraved in it.

"I think the gym must be somewhere in the forest." Lyra said pointing down the path.

"Yeah I guess so, that's odd most of the gyms are in the middle of the city." I said wondering why it would be in the woods.

"Well maybe this one is special." Lyra replied.

"Perhaps….well let's get going then, times a wasting." I said as Lyra and Ray followed after me.

We went deep into the woods following the path as it snaked its way through the trees. Lyra decided to put the egg in her bag for the time being because she was getting tired of carrying it. The forest gradually became denser and denser and less sunlight shone through the canopy. Even though it was day time the trees began to slowly block out the sun even more and caused the surrounding area to get darker and darker.

"Holy crap it's dark in here." Lyra commented looking around.

"Man that's weird, I've never seen trees block out this much sunlight before." I said looking up at the canopy.

"I know it doesn't seem possible and…Oh wow where'd that come from?" Lyra said a little startled.

"Where'd what come from?" I said looking where she was facing.

I was then surprised to see a pagoda looking structure which was painted black and purple that seemingly appeared out of nowhere.

"Jeez how didn't we notice that earlier?" I said with an astonished look on my face.

"I don't know, it's like it just appeared." Lyra said in a confused tone.

This place had a creepy aura around it and coupled with the fact that it was dark during the daytime was even creepier.

"Man this place looks like its haunted." Lyra said half jokingly.

"Please don't say stuff like that," I said in an uneasy tone.

"It's bad enough that the trees are blocking out the sun okay, I don't need thoughts of ghosts and ghouls in my head." I added.

"What are you chicken?" Lyra said giving me a sly look.

"No I'm just a little on edge by the darkness okay. I don't need fuel for my imagination."

"Oooooohhhh I'm a ghhooosstt and I'm going to steal your sssooooulll." Lyra said in spooky voice.

"Oh knock it off." I said in an irritated tone.

But before Lyra could respond the sound of door being slowly opened echoed across the eerie atmosphere. Lyra and I both turned towards the pagoda and saw the main doors were now open. Oddly enough even Ray was lifting the rim of his hat up to see the odd occurrence.

"Did…did those doors just open by themselves?" Lyra said in an uneasy tone.

"Um…I think they did." I said a little creeped out.

Then Lyra and I heard a crashing sound come out of the building, like a piece of pottery had just been smashed. Lyra inched closer to me as the tension in the air began to rise.

"What the hell was that?" Lyra said meekly tugging on my sweat shirt.

"I…I don't know."

Lyra and I stood there staring at the creepy old pagoda wondering what was going to happen.

"Why hello there." said a voice that sounded like it came from behind us.

Lyra and I both jumped and yelped rather loudly when we heard the voice. I felt Lyra grab a hold of my left arm and we both quickly turned around to see what had spooked us. Standing behind us was a rather tall man who wore a black sweater and a purple scarf. He also wore a purple head band around his shaggy short blond hair. His face was soft and wore a friendly expression.

"Oh I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you there." the stranger said in low but soft voice.

"Who…who are you?" I asked still a little startled.

"Oh I'm Morty nice to meet you. I'm the gym leader here." he said with a smile.

He then glanced at Lyra who was still latched onto my arm and smirked.

"Awe, isn't that sweet, you two dating or something? It's so nice to see young love." Morty said with a delighted tone.

"WHAT!? No we're not dating!" Lyra and I said almost in unison before looking at each other with both of our cheeks blushing red.

Lyra then quickly let go of me and looked to the side holding her arm nervously. I too looked to the side scratching the back of my neck. Oh god that was awkward.

"Oh I'm sorry, it's just that you two looked like couple, what with you holding your boyfriend's arm and…" Morty said apologetically before Lyra interjected.

"He's not my boyfriend!" Lyra said stamping her foot.

"Alright calm down I didn't mean to upset you." Morty said trying to calm Lyra.

This entire conversation was making me very nervous as the thought of Lyra being my girlfriend ran through my head. Although I kind of wanted that, thinking about it now didn't sit well and I started getting a very queasy feeling in my gut. And it kind of hurt to hear Lyra say I'm not her boyfriend, even though we're only friends.

"Look sorry about the misunderstanding, how about we start over. My name is Morty and you two are?" he said gesturing towards us.

"Um…My name is Gold." I said a bit timidly

"And I'm Lyra." she said timidly as well.

"Well then might I ask what brings you two here today?" he asked.

"Well…I came here today to earn my next gym badge." I said with a bit more confidence.

"Oh really, I like having a good battle, how many pokemon are you planning on using?"

"Just three." I replied.

"But Gold what about Ray, you are going to use him right?" Lyra asked in a confused tone.

"Ray is still hurt from earlier I don't want to make him fight a gym leader with bandages still on him." I said looking down at the straw hat wearing pokemon.

Ray once again just shrugged like he didn't really care one way or the other.

"Well that's fine with me I use three pokemon too, here follow me we'll get started soon." Morty said heading for the door.

"Umm odd question, but um, we saw that door open by itself earlier. This place isn't haunted, is it?" Lyra asked as Morty walked up the steps to the front door.

"Oh this door opens all the time due to the wind, this old place is rather drafty." he said leaning against the door.

"Oh phew that's a relief." said Lyra.

"But don't get me wrong this place is still haunted, the spirits here just don't open doors if that's what you're thinking." Morty said with a smirk on his face.

"Wait what?" I said utterly confused by what he just said.

"Yeah this place is haunted, you didn't know? Most people who come here know that. In fact one of those spirits named Gengar is hiding in your shadow right now." Morty said pointing at me.

"Wait, my shadow? What are you…Jesus Christ what the heck is that!" I said turning around to look at my faint shadow on the ground and saw a pair of red eyes and a wicked smile where my head should be.

"What is that thing!" Lyra said spooked by what she and I saw.

Then suddenly a five foot tall dark purple figure rose up from my shadow. It was round in shape and its face took up most of its body and I could see what looked like spikes running down its back. The pokemon then gave me a wicked grin before it took to the air laughing to itself as it floated over towards Morty and disappeared into his shadow. Lyra and I both stood there spooked by what we had just witnessed.

"*Chuckle* Well I'm pretty sure you figured out what my specialty is by now." Morty said in a pleasant voice.

"You're a…a…Ghost type trainer." I said meekly.

Morty just gave me a smile and motioned for us to follow him inside. Wow just when I thought I had finally found a gym leader who was somewhat normal. Although we hesitated at first Lyra and I both went in after the ghost type trainer unsure of what may lay inside. The only one who was not the least bit on edge was once again Ray. He just kept walking like nothing out of the ordinary was happening. Jeez does this guy ever lighten up?

When we walked inside we saw that there were no lights and the room was almost pitch black. The only thing I was sure about was that the floors were made of wood, because they creaked when I walked on them.

"Um Morty you in here? There aren't any lights." Lyra said squinting her eyes.

"Sorry I'll get that for you." Morty said with his voice coming from the other end of the room.

Then with a snap of his fingers hundreds of candles around the room ignited in soft blue flames. With the light these eerie candles provided we could see the room in its full colors. Lyra and I were standing in what looked like the sloped seating area for a sports coliseum, but all of the seats were made of wood. In the center of the room was lowered portion that sunk into the ground. The sunken area itself had a dirt floor and was the size of a standard pokemon arena. On the opposite end of the room we saw Morty sitting with his legs crossed at the edge of the arena once again with that pleasant look on his face.

"So Gold, I'm ready whenever you are, but I warn you I've been the spiritual leader of this town for many years and I'm no pushover." Morty said holding out a green and black pokeball.

The moment Morty issued his challenge I felt that uneasiness in my gut go away. I could feel my mind shift into the version of me that's ready for a fight. I walked up to the edge of the arena with Merlin's pokeball in hand.

"Alright Morty let's get this show started." I said tossing my psychic bird into the playing field.

My five and a half foot owl once fully formed stood at the ready tilting his head towards the gym leader. I picked Merlin as my lead because I remembered that he had a thing against ghost types back at Sprout Tower. Plus his psychic powers would be an excellent counter for ghosts.

"Hmm, and excellent choice for this fight, but I'm all but too prepared for that. Go Ghastly." Morty said tossing his black and green pokeball.

But instead of the classic flash of light the ball erupted in a cascade of black smoke that formed into a mouth and eyes. Merlin's eyes instantly zeroed in on the ghostly cloud with an intense stare. The fight was on, now it's time to see if that training I did had paid off.

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**...Meh, I don't have much to say this time other than i finally picked up a copy of pokemon white, now all i need is fire red and i'll be able to get pokemon from all regions.**

**Hope you enjoyed the chapter.**


	18. Chapter 18

**God this chapter is long but I hope you enjoy it because a lot happens. :) On a side note I find listening to music while i write to be influential to my story and helps inspire me to write these chapters.**

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Chapter 18:Two Curses and Three Gifts

I was very curious to see how Merlin would do against this Ghastly, because the last time he fought a ghost was when he was still struggling to use confusion. Now he has evolved and his psychic arsenal has vastly improved. It also helps to know that he now towers over the basketball sized cloud of poison making him seem more intimidating.

"Let us begin." Morty said with snap of his fingers and the entire room seemed to dim a little which was a bit unsettling.

Almost instantly Merlin took to the air as the glow of psychic energy began to emanate from him. For my first move I decided I should get one of Merlin's shields up and fast. I've done some more research into light screen and reflect and learned that they protect the user from different forms of damage.

"Merlin throw up a light screen quickly!" I ordered knowing that light screen protects from most energy based attacks and I figured that ghosts would specialize in that.

I was expecting Morty and his Ghastly to make a move right after I got Merlin's defenses raised, but instead he just sat there like he was pondering. Either I just made a move that completely ruined his plan, or he has something up his sleeve.

"Well you got me beat, a psychic using bird with light screen up seems unstoppable." Morty said shrugging before he shot me a wicked grin that seemed to completely contrast from that pleasant look he always wore.

"So let's put a timer on that Noctowl." Morty said in an unexpectedly creepy tone.

"Ghastly use curse." he added with a snap of his fingers as his Ghastly began to give off a ghostly purple glow.

"Merlin don't let it hit you!" I ordered in quick response.

"You can run all you want, but no one, not even the user, escapes curse." Morty said in that creepy tone again.

"What?" I said as I saw something strange happen.

Seemingly out of nowhere two large translucent purple colored nails appeared over Merlin and the Ghastly.

"What the heck are those things!?" Lyra called out from where she was sitting.

Then the two nails violently plunged into the Ghastly and Merlin. I was shocked to see the ghostly power phase right through Merlin's bubble of protection like it wasn't even there. Both recipients of the attack hollered out painfully before the apparitions disappeared. I was utterly confused as to what just happened, why would he use an attack that hurts both pokemon?

"What the hell did you just do Morty?" I called out demanding an answer.

"That's curse, by sacrificing the energy of the user I have put a curse on Merlin, in two minutes that nail will reappear and will take him out. So you'd better hurry and make the most of your most powerful asset against me." Morty chuckled eerily to himself.

"Two minutes…" I repeated quietly to myself realizing what that meant for this fight.

"Merlin quickly use confusion, we don't have time to waste!" I ordered.

Merlin's eyes began to glow white and the distinct ringing sound echoed across the room. The weakened Ghastly hollered out as the mental attack manifested in its mind.

"Ghastly hang on and use spite before you give up!" Morty called out.

With that the ghostly creature fought off the pain of the headache inducing attack and summoned several small balls of blue fire that danced around the Ghastly. What the hell is that attack? Those lights are just circling the Ghastly not doing anything, perhaps it's an attack that needs time to charge. In that case.

"Merlin use confusion again and crank it up a notch!" I ordered pointing towards the cloud of poison.

Merlin once again unleashed his psychic potential towards the floating ball of purple haze. The Ghastly hollered out painfully once more before it went all bug eyed and dispersed into a thin mist. This is good I defeated the first pokemon in record time and I have about one and half minutes till curse took effect. But wait those blue lights are still there, what the hell is going on?I glanced over at Morty who wore a smirk on his face as he returned his fainted cloud of poison. Suddenly the blue balls of fire shot over towards Merlin and began to circle the bird in mid-flight.

"Merlin focus on your shield! They won't be able to hurt you if you strengthen your shield!" I ordered anticipating the blue balls of fire to attack him.

"*Chuckle* That won't work." Morty said chuckling to himself as the blue flames circled around Merlin even faster.

Suddenly Merlin froze up as what looked like energy was being sucked out of his body and being absorbed by the blue flames.

"What the hell is happening? Merlin try to shake them off!"

"He can't, the flames of spite are sucking him dry of the energy needed to use his powers." Morty said as he prepped another black and green pokeball.

"Draining his energy!" Lyra and I both exclaimed.

"And now your Noctowl won't be able to use confusion for much longer, sorry bout'that." Morty said grinning wickedly as he tossed his next pokeball.

"Go Haunter!" he exclaimed as the cloud of dark haze revealed a disembodied spiky head with floating clawed hands.

The new pokemon cackled manically when it set its ghostly eyes on the weakened owl pokemon. The Haunter that hovered before me was much larger than a Ghastly and was even creepier looking. Its jagged teeth gave the grin it was wearing a horrifying appearance. With the blue flames gone Merlin was back to his normal self and looked at the new ghost type with anger.I didn't want to make Merlin have to use confusion but it was the only attack that Merlin could use to harm this ghost.

"Merlin use confusion quickly and make it count!"

"Haunter use shadow sneak." Morty said in calm voice.

Before Merlin could use his mental attack the Haunter pulled its cheeks apart with its floating hands and stuck its tongue out at Merlin before vanishing into thin air. Merlin looked around confused as to what just happened.

"Where the hell did it go?" I said looking around frantically.

Suddenly the Haunter reappeared behind Merlin and drove one of its floating hands through Merlin's shield and struck him with an intense blow that ended with the shield shattering and the Noctowl plummeting towards the ground.

"Merlin, you okay!?" I said concerned for him.

The large bird quickly recovered as the Haunter dove down after it rearing its other disembodied hand back to attack. Merlin's eyes quickly glowed pink as he summoned a wall of psychic energy that stopped the attack. The Haunter pulled its hand away from the barrier and cackled as it disappeared again and struck Merlin from behind his wall of protection before vanishing again. How the hell was Merlin supposed to stop something that could disappear?!

"Looks like your Noctowl is having trouble hitting what he can't see." Morty said as he looked at the battlefield with an eerie grin.

The moment Morty said those words I had a brilliant idea.

"Merlin use foresight and follow up with confusion and give it everything you got!" I ordered confidently.

Heading to my commands the Noctowl's eyes glowed red as a spotlight quickly zeroed in and revealed the ghost's location. The Haunter once spotted had a look on its face like it knew it was screwed. Merlin quickly unfurled his wings as he used the rest of his psychic energy for one last attack. The Haunter cried out as it held its forehead with its floating hands for several moments before it too dispersed into a cloud of purple smoke and returned to Morty's pokeball.

"Merlin you kick ass!" Lyra cheered from the stands.

"Good job Merlin! Now all that's left is the Gengar." I said with confidence.

Merlin looked back at me and gave me a subtle gesture acknowledging the praise he was getting.

"Time's up." Morty said with an eerie tone as he snapped his fingers.

I felt my heart sink for I had forgotten about the curse. Suddenly the ghostly nail reappeared in front of Merlin and plunged into his chest causing the bird to freeze up before it collapsed to the floor.

"What!? I thought I had more time!" I yelled.

"Merlin no!" Lyra cried out seeing the horrible sight.

I gritted my teeth after witnessing that. I quickly returned Merlin and looked down at his pokeball.

"You did a good job, sorry it ended like that. Just rest for now." I said before I reached for Duke's pokeball.

"Alright Morty I'm ready for your last pokemon. Go Duke!" I said tossing the pokeball down into the dirt arena.

Duke once fully formed growled enthusiastically in anticipation for a fight. Morty paused for a moment before he started laughing in a low maniacal tone. What the hell is with this guy? He was so normal when we met him outside, but as we battled he's became more and more like a mad man.

"My last two pokemon are nothing compared to Gengar, you see the other two were only meant to take care of the only pokemon that stood a chance against him." Morty explained as he continued to cackle.

"Reveal yourself Gengar." he said in low voice as he snapped his fingers once again.

I looked towards Morty's shadow expecting to see the shadowy creature rise from it, but I was shocked to see the ghost type rising from Duke's shadow instead! Duke didn't notice it because his shadow was behind him.

"Duke look out!" I tried to warn him.

"Gengar use hypnosis!"

The Nidorino quickly turned around to face the large ghost type only to be put to sleep by the spiraling light that was emitted from the Gengar's hand.

"Now Gengar, use dream eater and let's see what this Nidorino is afraid of."

"Dream eater?" I said confused as I watched the Gengar place its hand on the Nidorino's head.

A strange blue aura began to emit from Dukes head and crawled up the Gengar's arm. The ghost then let go of Duke's head before floating to the other end of the arena and promptly snapped its fingers waking Duke up.

"What the heck did you just do?" I called out demanding an explanation.

"Gengar devoured the dreams of your Nidorino to determine what he fears the most."

"So what if you know what he's afraid of? What are you going to do make spiders appear out of nowhere?" I replied not seeing the point of what he just did.

"Just watch. Gengar…use nightmare!" Morty said in a maniacal voice.

Suddenly the entire room got dark and I could barely make out the two pokemon in the arena below. The Gengar disappeared and Duke looked desperately around trying to find it. Then I heard something that echoed across the room, it was a low rumbling growl that sounded familiar. It took me a few seconds to realize that the growl sounded like a...no that can't be.

"...A Nidoking." I muttered dreadfully to myself.

My eyes quickly zeroed in on Duke and I saw that he was petrified. His body was shaking and the look of dread was in his eyes. My eyes followed his gaze to the other end of the room where I saw it. Standing there was the shadowy depiction of Tsar the tyrant. But even worse was the fact that bodies of bloody Nidorans were scattered around his feet. The Nidoking then began cackle as toxins oozed out of his mouth spilling over his body and spreading across the floor. The toxins then began to eat away at the bodies at his feet like acid.

I stood there terrified of what I was looking at. I wanted to call out in horror but the words wouldn't form.

"W..w…w…what the hell is that!" Lyra cried out in fear.

"It's the one thing that Duke fears most." Morty replied.

"Now then Gengar use shadow sneak while Duke is distracted!"

"Duke look out!" I called out but was too late.

The Gengar reformed next to Duke and summoned what looked like a shadowy hammer and smashed it into Duke sending him tumbling across the dirt floor. The Gengar then held its arms to the side and mimicked the stance of a diver as it disappeared into the ground.

"Duke get up quickly!"

But it was pointless, the image Duke was witnessing at the other end of the room had practically paralyzed him with fear. The Gengar then rose from the ground next to him and conjured up the ghostly hammer again and smashed it down on top of Duke knocking him out cold.

"Duke!" I called out seeing the Nidorino take the awful hit.

The Gengar laughed as it lifted the hammer and saw that the Nidorino was out cold lying under it. I then saw the horrifying image of Tsar disappear and the room returned to its normal lighting.

"What the hell… just happened?" I muttered to myself.

"Fear is a very powerful tool that can reduce the mightiest of warriors into cowards, and Gengar is a master of it. Well Gold, let us see what your next pokemon fears the most." Morty chuckled eerily.

This isn't good, that Gengar is extremely powerful, he was able to knock Duke out in two hits for crying out loud! And that thing the ghost conjured up had left a very unsettling feeling in my stomach. I had to get hold of myself, if I just stand here petrified with fear I won't be able to win. I quickly shook off that uneasy feeling and returned Duke. I hesitated at first but I slowly reached for Nile's pokeball. If I stood any chance at beating that Gengar I would have to make sure he can't use dream eater.

"Go Nile let's do this." I said tossing Nile's pokeball.

My Croconaw entered the playing field ready for a fight and he bared his teeth towards the ghostly pokemon.

"Nile be careful." Lyra called out.

I glanced over to her and saw that she was quivering in her seat. I feel bad for taking her here now.

I quickly looked back at Nile and said, "Nile make sure you stay on the move, don't let him get you with hypnosis!"

Nile nodded his head and started to dash across the dirt floor and firing off torrents of water towards the ghost type. The Gengar merely laughed as its body stretched and bent into bizarre shapes in order to avoid the attacks. The way it elongated and contorted its body back and forth was very creepy and it would seem that ranged attacks were almost useless. I had to switch tactics.

"Nile try using ice punch!"

Nile nodded his head as he slammed his fists together encasing them in ice and charged towards the Gengar. The ghost type merely laughed as it saw the Croconaw charge at him.

"Gengar counter with sucker punch." Morty ordered.

The Gengar chuckled as it conjured up a pair of ghostly boxing gloves on its hands dashed quickly across the floor kicking up dirt and dust in his wake in order to engage Nile in melee. Nile threw the first punch with a quick right jab but the ghost merely stretched its body and avoided the attack and followed up with a left hook straight to Nile's jaw, knocking several teeth lose. My Croconaw quickly retaliated with more punches but couldn't land a hit. One after the other Nile threw his fists to no avail. Then in the midst of Nile's barrage the Gengar landed an upper cut that sent Nile tumbling backwards.

"Good now use hypnosis and follow with dream eater!"

"Nile get up quickly!"

It was too late, just as Nile was getting up on his feet the spiraling wave of light hit him and he fell back to the ground.

"No not again, Nile wake up!" I yelled.

"Nile come on wake up!" Lyra added.

But Nile wouldn't budge and the Gengar had already reached him. It then placed its hand on Nile's head and the blue aura from before was absorbed by the Gengar. Then just like before the ghost type floated over to the other end of the room and snapped its fingers waking Nile.

"Nile whatever you do don't look!" I said trying to warn him.

"Well it's been fun Gold. But this fight will end with one final nightmare." Morty said motioning for his Gengar to begin the attack.

The Gengar cackled loudly as the room began to darken once again.

"Nile don't look, whatever you do don't look!" I said practically begging him.

Nile did what he was told and covered his eyes with his hands. Once again the Gengar disappeared and the room darkened even more. At first nothing happened, but then suddenly I heard something. It sounded like a Totodile crying. I looked at Nile and saw that he was slowly moving his hands away from his eyes and the look of dread was painted on his face.

I looked towards the other end of the room and saw a ghostly red apparition of a tall man in a trench coat. Standing in front of him was the blue apparition of a Totodile that was cowering in fear of the tall man. The tall man then grabbed a hold of the Totodile's left arm causing it to cry out in fear. Nile stood there petrified of what he was seeing before he fell to his knees. The tall man then lifted the Totodile in the air and stood there watching it dangle there helplessly. Then he reached in his pocket and pulled out a butterfly knife. Nile tensed up in fear when he saw the knife being flipped open. I felt an overwhelming sense of despair as I realized that this was Nile's memory of how he got that scar on his left arm.

"Gengar use shadow sneak!" Morty said snapping his fingers.

Once again the Gengar appeared out of thin air right next to the terrified Croconaw and summoned the ghostly hammer.

"Nile it's not real! Look out!"

But it was pointless the Gengar attacked with even more force than before and knocked the lights out of Nile. The ghostly illusions disappeared and the room returned to normal. I had lost. With the battle over I felt the feeling of defeat sink in. But then I saw the Gengar walk over to the passed out croc and surprisingly kneeled down to see if Nile was okay.

"What's he doing?" I said confused.

"Despite what you just saw, Gengar is not evil. He's just making sure he didn't hurt your Croconaw too badly." Morty said surprisingly in his normal voice and no longer in that creepy tone.

Confused by the sudden shift in character, I looked over at him and saw that Morty no longer had that eerie aura around him and seemed to be a normal guy again. What the heck happened to him? It's like he became a mad man when he was fighting.

"Anyway sorry that you lost, but hey that was a pretty good fight if I say so myself." Morty commented in his pleasant voice.

"But after all that training…I just can't believe I lost so easily." I muttered to myself.

"Hey don't sweat it kid, you did a very good job. Ghost types are a tricky one to combat and almost no one knows what to expect from them." Morty said walking over to me.

"Also sorry for my behavior back there, you looked kinda scared. I should've warned you I get like that when I fight." Morty said with a slightly embarrassed face.

"Yeah umm… no kidding." I said in a defeated tone.

Morty seemed to take notice to my demeanor and he snapped his fingers like he had an idea.

"Look you can always try and fight me again, but I can tell you're still feeling down so let me make it up to you."

"What do you mean?" I asked as Lyra and Ray walked over to me.

"I'm leaving soon to be the guide for the next tour at the burnt tower, if you want you and Lyra can tag along free of charge."

"Wow really?" Lyra and I said as I felt my spirits lighten up.

"Absolutely, think of it as a reward for trying so hard and…Hey it looks like your Croconaw is quite the stubborn one, he's already back on his feet." Morty said pointing towards Nile.

Lyra and I turned our heads to see Nile getting back up and looking around like he was wondering what just happened. He then looked to the side and saw the Gengar wave at him in a friendly manner. Nile then looked at me like he was saying _"Did I miss something?" _

"You know what, here have some of these hyper potions and get your team healed up." Morty said holding out three vials of golden liquid.

"Um…thanks, but um...why are you being so generous to us?" I said reaching for the medicine.

"Once again I'm apologizing for my behavior in battle, it's something about my personality that I'm not very good at controlling. Plus I feel like being nice to others will help spiritually make up for my rather sadistic tendencies in pokemon battles." he said with an embarrassed face.

"Anyway we should head out soon if you don't want to be late for the next tour." he added.

And with that I used the medicine that Morty gave me to get everyone healed up before we left. I'm amazed at how fast acting the medicine was because Duke, Merlin, and Nile were all back in healthy condition in a manner of seconds. Even though Morty was being so nice to us, I have to admit I'm still a little at odds with him. But it was a gym battle and gym leaders are supposed to fight at their full capacity so I won't hold it against him. Still that man creeps me out a bit.

I decided to let Nile walk with me seeing as he was a little uneasy from what he saw in the nightmare attack, even more so than Duke who seemed to shrug off the scary image he saw pretty easily. Ray continued to walk with us, because he's stubborn and wants be around the egg in Lyra's bag. Lyra also let out her Marill and was carrying the round pokemon in her arms. It took us about half an hour of following Morty through the town before we reached the burnt tower.

When we arrived we saw a pretty large crowd of about fifty or more people waiting at the foot of the hill that lead up to the charred remains of the pagoda style building. Only about five floors remained of the burnt tower and it was covered in scorch marks.

Morty then walked up to the head of the group and said, "Hello everyone, my name is Morty. Many of you may know me as the gym leader of this city. I'm glad to say that I have volunteered to be your tour guide today of the former Brass tower."

"Now then let me set some ground rules first, this place was only recently cleared safe enough to conduct these tours so please only walk where I go for some areas are still unstable. Also there are some artifacts on display inside so please don't touch anything, okay." he said in his pleasant voice.

Everyone in the small crowd including me and Lyra acknowledged what Morty said.

"Alright then please follow me and we'll start your tour." Morty said turning around and heading up the steps to the tower.

As Lyra and I began to walk up the narrow steps the group got a little packed together going up. This unfortunately caused me to bump into a girl while I was looking up at the tower ahead like an idiot.

"Oh I'm sorry." I said quickly and in a nervous tone.

The girl in front of me had blue hair that was up in pigtails the same way that Lyra had hers. In response to my apology the girl turned and said.

"Oh that's okay don't worry about it…"

She then paused when she looked at me and Lyra. I raised an eyebrow wondering why she was giving me that look.

"Oh hey it's you two again, it's me Kris. Remember we met back in Azalea town." The blue haired girl said as her eyes lit up.

"Oh wait I remember you!" Lyra said gleefully.

"We met for like a minute but we didn't have time to really talk." Lyra added.

"So what have you two been up to since you fought Team Rocket? I hope that people haven't been pestering you too much for being on the news." said Kris.

"Um well…. For the most part people have left us along….we uh… saw a few other news broadcasts about Team Rocket but they left our names out, so not many other people recognize us." I said timidly.

God damn it, I'm getting nervous again just talking to her. I just can't help it she reminds me of how I felt when I was being recognized by other people and how that stressed me out. Damn it Ethan stop being a wuss and just talk to her like she's your friend!...Okay that's like the fifth or so time I've called myself Ethan like it's an insult, this is starting to get weird.

"Well that's good to know, what else have you been up to?" Kris asked.

"Well I've won another gym badge in Goldenrod, but I uh...I lost to Morty just recently." I said still scratching the back of my neck.

"And you?" Kris asked looking at Lyra.

"I won a super contest and earned four more ribbons." Lyra said with pride.

"Wow that sounds pretty cool." said Kris.

"How about you Kris, what have you been up to?" Lyra asked as we entered the first floor of the burnt tower.

"Well I'm not really supposed to tell, but I trust you two. I'm currently enlisting into the Pokemon Ranger trial program, and I've been tracking a criminal who I think is in Ecruteak right now. But I uh well...I lost his trail. So I decided to take a break and go on this tour." Kris said shrugging.

"Well that's pretty cool. Who were you tracking?" I asked.

"Now that I can't tell you, sorry." Kris said in apologetic tone.

"That's okay." Lyra replied.

"So before the tour starts can you tell me about your pokemon?" Kris asked.

"Sure this guy right here is Nile, and the grumpy one there is Ray." I said pointing to each of them.

Nile gave a toothy grin to Kris and Ray tilted his hat.

"And this here is Marill." Lyra said as her round pokemon waved to Kris with her stubby arm.

"Well they all look wonderful." Kris complemented.

"Okay every one listen up and let me tell you a bit about this floor." Morty called out as the group stopped.

Morty then went into detail about the story of the tower and why it was built, but I didn't really pay attention because I heard the story like hundred times on the internet. So instead I looked around the place. I could smell lots of air fresheners that I think they were using to mask the smell of ash, but I could still make it out. The walls had some patches of charred red and gold wall paper with ornate designs painted on them. Some of the support pillars were blacked by fire while others were intact and I could see a dragon design engraved into them. There were also many portions of the floor that were missing. I peered into one of them and gulped when I couldn't see the bottom. And finally I saw that the next four levels above me were missing large portions of their floors and I could see the sky.

"Now then can anyone tell me what either Lugia or Ho-oh looked like?" Morty asked the group.

"No one knows, no paintings have ever survived of them and the stories always say something different." I called out responding to my nerdy reflexes and I instantly regretted doing so.

Oh shit now everyone is looking at me, I shouldn't have done that. Curse my need to show off what I know.

"Well normally you'd be right, but you might be glad to know that recently the university team that was checking the stability of this structure discovered one last surviving portrait of the famed pair buried in the ash." Morty said to the group.

"Here, you can see the portrait in this room." Morty said pointing to a room off to his right.

I was instantly interested to see this portrait. If what he said was true this would be the first time anyone had found a credible depiction of the two pokemon of legend. I could feel that nerdy side of me getting excited to see the picture. Me, Lyra and Kris along with the rest of the group entered the room that Morty pointed to and I saw a very large roughly six by four foot painting of the two towers with two creatures perched on top of them. Both of them had long necks and what appeared to be wings. One of them had a very smooth silvery body and an arrow shaped head. While the other was a reddish bronze color and had a crest of feathers on its head. And...wait that can't be...those look like... the two pokemon I saw in my dream!

Holy shit how is this possible? There was no doubt in my mind, those two creatures in the painting were the same two I saw in that dream I had the night before I got Nile. Does this mean I saw Lugia and Ho-oh in my dream? No that can't be right. But then how did I imagine something that looks exactly like what someone painted over three hundred years ago and no one has seen until now? If Lugia and Ho-oh were in my dream, does that mean those riddles of fate were true? No that can't be it you moron, stuff like that never happens in real life. I mean that kind of thing only happens in books and movies, you of all people should know that you freaking nerd! But still I can't deny that what I'm looking at on that canvas looks exactly like what I saw in my dream.

As I was pondering I felt someone tug on my sweat shirt. I looked down to see that Lyra, who had let Marill walk on the floor, was looking up at me with a concerned look.

"Gold, are you okay? You look like you're worried about something." Lyra said in quiet voice.

"What um...no I'm fine I'm just excited to...you know...finally see a picture of Ho-oh and Lugia, heh" I said meekly.

"You're sure you're okay?"

"Yes I'm fine."

It didn't look like she believed me, but thankfully the group continued onto the next room and Lyra seemed to forget about it. As the tour continued Lyra and Kris chatted away as Morty continued to talk about the tower. But I couldn't stop thinking about what I saw in that painting and what I saw in my dream. I tried to remember what those two said, but all I could remember from it was that they were talking about two people who they referred to as the Pariah and the Messiah.

If I remembered correctly from some of the books I read as a kid, a pariah is someone who is an outcast; while a messiah is someone that is said to be a hero or savior. But other than that I'm clueless as to what that means. I should just give it a rest, it's probably nothing at all and just some dream I had after watching Time Gate Traveler the other night. I mean its not uncommon for me to have weird dreams after watching a movie. After awhile the tour concluded and everyone was walking outside.

"That was pretty interesting wouldn't you say so." said Lyra looking up at me.

"Well other than the painting I didn't learn much else." I said shrugging.

"Well I thought it was fascinating." said Kris.

"Hey do you two see Marill? I can't seem to find her." Lyra asked looking around.

"Oh shoot we must've gotten separated, I think she might still be in the tower." said Kris.

"Ah great." I moaned rolling my eyes.

"Hey Morty, is it okay if we go back inside really quick? We think Marill might still be inside." I said looking over towards the gym leader.

"Sure, but make it quick I'm heading back to the gym and I don't want you in there for very long." said Morty as he followed the crowd down the hill and back into town.

"Alright let's go find Marill." I said as Lyra and Kris along with Nile and Ray followed me inside.

Once inside we retraced our steps in our attempts to locate the missing water type.

"Marill, Marill where are you?" I called out looking high and low.

"You don't think that she fell down one of these holes do you?" Lyra said in a worried tone as she peered down on of the various holes in the floor.

"Relax Lyra, Marill is pretty smart she'd never do that." said Kris trying to take that thought out of Lyra's head.

I continued to look around for any sign of Marill until I heard something crying along with the footsteps of something very small running.

"You girls hear that?" I said looking to where I thought I heard the sound.

As Lyra and Kris also turned to look we saw Marill run out of a room down at the far end of the main hall. She turned sharply when she saw us and ran down the hall with a terrified look on her face. When Marill reached us she quickly hid behind Lyra's legs and cried looking down the hall.

"Marill what's wrong?" Lyra said kneeling down trying to calm her water type.

As I looked down towards Marill I heard a low growling sound coming from where Marill just ran from. I looked back down the hall and saw something very large walk through the doorway that Marill came out of. It was dark blue green in color and had a creamy under belly and appeared to be some type of large mammal, it looked like Silvers Quilava only way bigger.

"What the hell?" I muttered to myself as the two girls looked at the massive pokemon.

The badger looking pokemon looked around the room until it saw me and the girls and quickly ignited its flames and snarled at us.

"Alpha will quit chasing that stupid water rat already!" said an angry voice that came from the room that the fire badger walked out of.

Then from out of the doorway I saw Silver walk into the hall glaring at his pokemon before he followed its gaze and saw all three of us. His eyes widened in shock of seeing us.

"Oh great, the three people I hate the most are all in the same god damn room. What the fuck do you all want!?" said Silver glaring at all of us.

"Its you! Your not getting away this time Silver!" said Kris as she held out a pokeball.

"Wait Silver is the guy you've been tracking?" I said looking at Kris.

"What you know him?" replied Kris.

"We've met a few times and I nearly got killed so yeah I guess you can say that." I replied as I motioned for Ray and Nile to ready themselves for a fight.

"Why is it that every where I go I keep running into you people! Back off now you lousy excuse for a ranger and maybe I'll let you leave here alive!" said Silver in a angry tone.

"I'm not leaving till I've stopped you! Gold help me out on this." said Kris prepping herself for a fight.

"Gladly." I replied.

"Gold please be careful." said Lyra in a worried tone as she stepped closer to me with Marill in her arms.

"Silver you should just give up while you can, we have you out numbered!" said Kris ordering Silver to step down.

silver just stood there for moment before staring at us with those hateful metallic eyes of his before he chuckled to himself.

"I don't know what's funnier, the fact that think your clumsy ass intimidates me, or that you think out numbering Alpha will do you any good." said Silver as he raised his right hand ready to snap his fingers.

"Alpha do as you please." Silver said snapping his fingers.

Instantly the fire badger's flames erupted into an intense inferno and charged straight at us.

"Go Champ and use hammer arm!" said Kris as she tossed her pokeball into the fray which released a Machoke.

"Nile, Ray, do what you do best!" I said as I watched the two follow after the Machoke's lead.

"Alpha use flame wheel!" ordered Silver.

The fire badger was quickly engulfed itself in flames and began spinning towards the trio of pokemon setting the floor boards underneath ablaze. Champ tried to attack the charging fire type with hammer arm but was knocked to the side when Alpha rammed into it. The fire type then broke out of its fiery wheel and skidded to a halt turning to face Ray who was about to throw a thunder punch and Nile who was charging in for a bite. Then with terrifying precision Alpha dashed towards Nile and socked him straight in the gut before grabbing a hold of him and chucking him into Ray causing the two of them to tumble into a nearby wall. The fire type then spun up into its flame wheel and charged the two.

Nile and Ray quickly dashed out of the way as Alpha crashed through the wooden wall behind them spreading flames further across the room. Nile and Ray turned around to see Alpha pounce through the large hole in the wall and try to attack Ray. But thankfully Ray's reflexes were fast enough and he socked the fire type with a thunder punch. Alpha then retreated backwards and roared at the two.

"Alpha use flamethrower!" ordered Silver.

"Nile Ray get out of there!" I yelled

The two pokemon tried to scramble away as the fire badger inhaled deeply. But before the pokemon could attack Champ had dashed forward and punched the towering fire type across the face causing Alpha to spew flames all over the place. Unfortunately some of the flames were heading towards me and the girls and we had to all dive out of the way to avoid the attack. When I got back up I saw that the flames we narrowly escaped had engulfed our only exit in fire. In fact to my dismay the flames from Alpha's attacks had spread all over the building. The burnt tower has reignited.

"Nile quickly use water gun! We have to get these flames under control!" I yelled.

Nile looked at me and acknowledged what he had to do, but before he could use his respective element Alpha dealt with Champ and was upon Nile again. The fire badger that towered over Nile grabbed a hold of his head and slammed him into the floor boards causing them to splinter. The fire type then lifted Nile up and chucked him into a nearby support beam breaking it in half in the process causing portions of the burning upper floor to collapse.

"Nile!" Lyra and I yelled in horror.

"Champ stop that monster before he brings down the whole place!" ordered Kris.

The Machoke getting back up from the ground sprinted up to the enraged fire type and nailed it in the stomach. To the which the fire type retaliated with a uppercut and then drop kicked the fighting type sending it clear through the nearby wall causing even more debris to fall from the upper floors. How the hell did Silver make his Quilava into this monster!? Nothing we did seemed to hurt it!

Alpha then turned to face the only Pokemon standing, the one with the straw hat. It was about to attack but stopped after everyone in the room heard a hideous crack of wood splintering from above us. All the occupants of the room looked up to see a massive portion of the upper floors come crashing down on the floor in front of us.

"Ray look out!" I yelled as the electric type and the fire badger rolled out of the way to avoid the flaming debris.

The debris smashed a massive hole into the floor and descended down into the pit below.

"Silver we have to stop this! " I yelled.

"This entire place is coming down! We have to get out of here! Kris, Lyra, return your pokemon we're leaving!" I said reaching for Ray and Nile's pokeballs.

"Non of you are leaving till I've finished what we stared once and for all! Alpha get rid of them!" Silver yelled.

But before Alpha began his attack again I felt the floor beneath me shift as the groan of wooden supports giving way filled the room. Everyone, including the enraged fire badger, looked at the floor beneath them.

"What was that!?" Lyra cried out fearfully.

"The floor is unstable he have to move now!" yelled Kris.

But before either of us could move the floor began to split and give way slanting towards the massive hole in the floor. Wooden floor boards splintered, support beams snapped in two, and flaming debris fell from above as me and the girls scrambled to keep our footing. I could even see Silver trying to avoid falling into the pit below as he cursed profusely. Then I heard another portion of the upper floor collapse and fall down onto the fragile floor we stood on.

"Look out!" I yelled I as the floor was smashed to pieces by the falling debris.

There was nothing left to stand on, the floor had given way and all of us including Silver and all the other pokemon plummet down into the pit.

* * *

"Ugghhh...god...wh...what...what the fuck happened?" I groaned as I regained consciousness and found myself lying on a stone floor.

Where the hell am I, and why does my body hurt so much? Oh wait now I remember, it was Gold and that stupid girl that I fought up in the tower before it collapsed and we all fell down the pit.

I turned my head to the side and saw Alpha passed out a few yards to my left. I turned my head to the other side and saw a large pile of debris that looked like it had fallen from above. It blocked my view of the rest of this cave, or pit, or wherever the fuck I was. I glanced up and saw a light shining from above. That must be where I fell from, it looked like a thirty to forty foot drop. How the hell am I alive? It doesn't matter.

I tried to stand up but struggled as my legs and back ached. Arrgh that stupid Gold, if he hadn't shown up none of this would've happened, it's his fault that I'm stuck down here. I limped my way to the side of the debris pile that obstructed my view of the room. Once on the other side I saw the whole band of pathetic trainers scattered across the cave floor along with their pokemon. They were all knocked out from the fall, seems I'm the only one who's conscious.

They all landed within close proximity of each other and were all lying on their backs. I looked to my left and saw the Croconaw and the Electabuzz with the stupid hat passed out in the corner. Over to my right was the Machoke that the miserable blue haired girl had. Great now I'm stuck in cave with these three assholes, all of whom would gladly see me behind bars. I have to get out of here before one of their pokemon wakes up.

Suddenly I heard something moving towards me and I quickly hid behind the debris pile. I poked my head out around the corner of the pile of burnt wood to see what was happening. It was then that I saw three pokemon enter from the other side of the cave. What the hell are those things? What the fuck is going on?

They all walked on four legs and were rather large in stature, but the similarities ended there. One was blue in color and had a strange crystal crest on its head. The one next to it was reddish brown and had a strange looking face mask and a flowing mane of what looked like smoke but was actually fur. The last one was yellow and bore massive canines and had what appeared to be a storm cloud on its back made of fur.

I sat there looking at these strange pokemon wondering where they came from and what the hell they were. What ever they are they look powerful, powerful enough to make me unstoppable. Damn if only Alpha wasn't knocked out, that stupid fire type. I then saw the three pokemon separate and walk up to each of the other trainers. They looked down at each one for moment before they all nodded their heads and placed their front paws gently on each of trainer's foreheads. Then a weird aura of light began to emit from the paws of these pokemon. They then lifted their paws off of them and looked around the room. What in gods name did they just do?

I then saw one of them look towards me and I quickly hide myself from view. I waited a few moments before looking again. Glancing back I saw the pokemon looking somewhere else and not towards me, which is good I think I avoided detection and…wait…where did the blue one go? This isn't good, losing track of something that large is bad news. I need to find some way out of here before they come looking over here. I turned around slowly as to not make any noise but jumped when I saw the blue beast like pokemon was right behind me.

"Shit!" I yelled backing away from the creature but fell backwards tripping on a piece of wood on the ground.

_"You've gone too far this time Pariah."_ said a voice that resonated inside my head.

"What the fuck did you just call me!?" I barked at the pokemon that was in front of me.

_"Your acts of cruelty have gone on long enough. Our master will not allow you to continue bearing the weight of fate as you are." _

"What the hell are you talking about!?" I said glaring at beast in front of me.

_"So this is the other one our master said bared a part of the weight of fate."_ said another voice that felt like it came from behind me.

I quickly turned around and was startled to see the reddish brown pokemon perched on top of the debris pile that was behind me.

_"He is the other one who will put end to the day of binding." _said yet another voice that came from my left.

I turned again and saw the yellow one standing to the left of the blue one. I spun around looking at the three beasts that surrounded me.

"What the fuck are you talking about!? Answer me!" I said confused and angered.

_"You have insulted our master with your ignorance." _said the brown one.

_"Cruelty and destruction are your sins." _said the yellow one.

_"As punishment for your ways you will bare what we have bestowed onto the others, while they will herald it as a blessing, you will wear it as a curse." s_aid the blue one.

"That's it I've had it with…." I said as I was reaching for Beta's pokeball but stopped when my body seemed to freeze.

"wh..what..the…" I said struggling to speak as it felt like my body was being held in place by some invisible force.

Then I felt the blue beast in front of me place its front paw on my forehead. I wanted to getaway but my body had ceased to move and struggling was useless. I saw the aura of light from before and felt everything go black.

* * *

Where am I? It feels warm and I can hear birds calling. There's a light breeze lofting past me and I feel grass underneath me. But wasn't I in a burning building with Gold and Kris? I don't remember anything after that. I feel very tired and I think I hear voices. But I'm barely awake and I can't move, the voices are only just now becoming clear enough to hear.

"What should we do?" said a squeaky voice that was near me.

"What are you looking at me for? I just woke up and found them like this." said another more scratchy but low voice.

"Should we move them?" said the squeaky voice again.

"To where? I haven't the slightest clue where we are. I've always relied on them to find the way out." said the scratchy voice.

"But we have to do something! I mean what if they're sick, or hurt, or even dying!" said the squeaky voice in a panicky tone.

"Calm down little one, they're not dying." said a very low and grizzled stern voice.

"Okay straw hat then what's wrong with them? I've been trying to wake them up for like an hour now." the scratchy voice retorted.

"Wait, look you two, she's getting up!" said the squeaky voice in a joyful tone.

I slowly opened my eyes and saw trees hanging over me. I then leaned up to see if I could find who was talking. But there was no one there except for Nile, Marill, and Ray who were standing next to me. I looked to my left and saw that Gold was next to me on the ground and was asleep I think. I then rubbed my eyes to try and see clearer and looked towards our pokemon.

"Ughh what happened where am I? Where's Kris?" I said looking around the area.

I looked in front of me and saw a forest lying before me. I then turned around and saw what looked like some rocky formations that had steam rising off it. Are we near a hot spring or something? How the hell did we get here and what happened to Crystal? And for that matter where did Silver go?

"What happened?" I muttered to myself still confused as to how I got here.

"Well, at least you guys are alright." I said looking at the three pokemon beside me.

"We're glad to see you're okay too." said Nile.

"Yeah what a relief that we're all..." I said but then paused.

I then looked towards Nile with a confused look. That's funny I could've sworn I heard someone talking just then.

"Lyra are you okay? You don't look so good." said Nile again in that scratchy voice from before as he tilted his head.

"...Ahhhhh!" I yelped loudly as I crawled away from the pokemon.

"D..di…did..did…you …jus…just …t…t…ta…talk?" I said stuttering and shaking at the same time.

"Wait you can understand me?!" Nile said with an astonished look on his face.

"Oh my god you are talking!" I said in disbelief.

I sat there breathing heavily staring at the three pokemon in front me. What the hell is happening? Am I dreaming?

"Lyra why are you scared, it's just us?" said my Marill in that squeaky voice I heard earlier.

I quickly turned to face Gold and shook him trying wake him up.

"Gold, Gold wake up!" I yelled.

"Uuggh...what... what's going on?" Gold moaned as he leaned up with his eyes half open.

"Nile and Marill just spoke!" I said to him pointing towards the Croconaw and Marill.

"Huh?" Gold said looking over at Nile and the other two.

"Hey Gold can you hear me talk too?" said Nile waving his hand.

Gold just sat there for second unsure of what he just saw.

"You two don't look so good, maybe they are sick." said Marill in the squeaky voice looking at me and Gold.

"What the hell!…they're talking...they're really talking." Gold said meekly in disbelief as he pinched himself.

"We're not talking. You just seem to understand how we communicate for some reason." said Ray in that grumbled stern voice.

Gold then turned around to look at Ray before saying.

"Okay, so now Ray sounds like a drill sergeant, Nile talks like the reptile aliens from Invader 3, and Marill sounds like a squeak toy. So is there anything else I need to know before I freak the fuck out?" Gold said holding his head like he was on the verge of metal breakdown.

"Lyra please tell me that you're even more talented than I ever imagined and this is just one of your pranks." Gold said looking at me.

I shook my head saying no with the same uneasiness that he had.

"Well then…so you and I…can now talk to pokemon?" he said almost stuttering.

I nodded my head.

"What the hell happened to us?" Gold said as the stress of what was going on showed on his face

"Are you two done freaking out yet? Because I'm kinda hungry, do you have any meat?" said Nile walking up to us.

"Can't you see they're a little uneasy right now, and all you can think about is food?" said Ray lifting the rim of his hat and staring Nile down.

"Oh be quiet straw hat! I've waited for like an hour for these two to wake up! Able to understand me or not I'm still hungry!" Nile retorted snapping his jaws.

"Doesn't it bother you at all that we woke up in the middle of the woods with no memory of how we got here?" Ray said crossing his arms.

"Not really I'm just hungry." said Nile in a tone that portrayed his lack of interest.

"God you're hopeless." said Ray turning around and tilting his hat over his eyes.

"Hey you wanna go electro boy? Come on, I've got two frozen fisticuffs with your name written on'em." said Nile holding up his fists.

"Whoa calm down you two!" said Gold trying to defuse the tension.

"Jeez I've only been able to hear you talk for about a minute and the first thing you do is fight?" Gold said glaring at Nile.

"Hey don't look at me Gold it was straw hat who started it." said Nile accusing the Electabuzz.

"Wow real mature." said Ray in a lackluster tone as he tilted his hat over his eyes.

Nile snarled in response to Ray's comment.

"Wait!" I said loudly trying to get everyone's attention.

"Look clearly something has happened to us. Can we please just talk for second and try and figure this out." I pleaded with everyone.

"Lyra is right we need to figure out what happened to us." said Gold agreeing with me.

"Ughh fine." Nile groaned as he sat down.

And with that we all started perhaps the strangest conversation of my life, considering we were now talking to our pokemon. Man things just get weirder and weirder on this journey. I wonder what happened to Kris and Silver?

* * *

**So I've been wanting to add more character to everyone's pokemon but found it rather hard to do when they can't talk. So I decided to change that! but i do feel like i'm taking a risk here in changing the formula of the previous chapters. But hey you've liked what i've done so far so i'm not too worried about the pokemon being able to talk now.**

**Bet you didn't see this phrase coming...hope you enjoyed the chapter.**

**P.S about the egg from the beginning cause some one asked, I didn't forget it, I just don't like Togepai plain and simple XD. But it's also because i made a rule that the pokemon on Golds team are supposed to be the ones on my final team i had on my first Soul Silver run through and togepai was never part of my team. But that rule doesn't apply to Lyra's or even Silver's team so i can have fun with it. On a side note if you thought snorlax or slacking were lazy then get a load of this. Togepai is so lazy it got half way through hatching and said "meh I'm done" and gave not a single shit ever since. plus i think togetic is ugly, but I do like Togekiss a bit, but not that much so sue me.**

**Besides the pokemon in Lyra's egg is way cooler and cuter than a Togepai, trust me...I hope...(it also kicks way more ass)**


	19. Chapter 19

**Happy Labor Day! So quick apology, sorry this took so long but my summer vacation is over and I have school now. So because I lack the abundance of free time I used to have I will not be able to update my story as frequently as I used to. I'm still doing it, but expect more days between chapters :( I'm still shooting for once a week but it'll probably be on the weekends.**

**Any way enjoy!**

* * *

Chapter 19: In the Wake of Waking Up

I've never really considered my life normal, I'm not the best socially, I'm very geeky, and I'm also the first person to fight Team Rocket in over two years, but this definitely takes the cake as the weirdest thing I've ever done. For I am currently sitting next to Lyra in the middle of the woods talking to our pokemon. Which if anyone else were to see us now we'd probably look like a couple of whack jobs who think they can talk to pokemon.

We sat in a circle near the edge of the natural hot springs that we had discovered were nearby. It was like a little out cove in the side of a large hill. There were two roughly equal sized pools of steaming water separated by a rocky wall.

Sitting in a circle next to the hot springs were me, Lyra, and all of our pokemon in the midst of our strangest, as well as our first conversation. Lyra and I sat next to each other with Merlin and Ray directly to our left. In front of us were Duke, Teeka, and Marill who were lying on top of a large flat rock that was roughly two feet tall. To our left was Nile lying down on his back and finally Drake was perched on top of Lyra's hat as usual.

"So let me get this straight, you two met up with a friend of yours named Kris and went to some old burnt tower where upon getting there you meet this other guy you call Silver, then after fighting him you all fell into a pit and then woke up here?" said Duke in a very broad yet croaky voice.

"That's what happened." I said remembering that Duke has never seen Kris or Silver before.

"And now you can understand everything I say just like Naoko?" Duke added raising his spiky brow.

"It's crazy I know but that's whats going on." Lyra replied.

"Hmm, what bothers me about that whole story is how did falling down a pit cause you two to gain the ability of understanding us?" said Merlin in relatively monotone voice where he seems to say his words a bit slowly, not by much, but just enough that I can tell.

"Does it really matter? Naoko has told me that being able to talk to pokemon is one of the greatest things she's been able to do so why bother knowing the reason? Besides I like being able to talk to people again." replied Duke.

"Yeah, let's just be happy our trainers can hear us talk." Drake said joyfully in a very fruitful buzzing voice.

"I think Drake and Duke are right, no amount of talking is going to tell us how we got this ability." Lyra said looking up at her shinny blue dragonfly.

"I think the better question is how did we get here." Lyra added.

"Perhaps someone found us in the pit and moved us." suggested Ray with his arms still crossed.

"Why would anyone do that? Why not take us to a hospital or something instead of leaving us in the middle of the woods?" I asked.

"I don't know." Ray said shrugging

"Well something had to have moved you, that's for sure. Just who or what it was is the question." said Merlin.

"What it was? You think it wasn't a person who moved us?" I said turning to look at my knowledgeable owl.

"Well if it was a person I think he would've done what you said and taken you to a hospital. Which leads me to believe that something, rather than someone, moved you." Merlin replied.

I shuddered a bit at the thought of something inhuman moving us. Jeez this reminds a lot about that book I read last year about a kid who woke up in the woods alone, but it was revealed in the end that aliens had brought him there. Great now I'm just giving myself the creeps.

"Okay let's change the subject; I'm getting creeped out thinking about something moving me." I said in meek voice.

"What about Kris? If we were moved by something why didn't they leave her with us?" Lyra said in a concerned tone.

"I can ask the same thing about Silver. Even though I'm glad he wasn't, why didn't we find him out cold with his monster of a pokemon alongside us?" Ray asked.

"I don't know maybe it's the same reason why Kris isn't with us, whatever that is." I said as my confusion only continued to grow.

"You guys think she's okay?" Lyra said in a more worried tone.

"Most likely, if you two survived the fall then it is more than likely that Kris did too. It is also very likely that Silver and…" Merlin said in a very analytic tone before he was cut off by Nile.

"I hope that bastard Silver and his freak Alpha died in that fall for all I care." said Nile in a rather cynical tone.

Almost every turned to look at the reptile who was lying on his back with his arms crossed. Even though I myself didn't care much for what happened to Silver, I was a little shocked to hear something so dark coming from my apparently shy Croconaw.

Nile leaned up to see us all looking at him and said, "What are you all looking at, I mean it. He nearly killed Gold and Lyra twice now! If I see him again I'll tear his guts out!"

Nile looked very angry and I could hear a gator-like hiss coming from him. I've never seen him this angry before, and the look in his eyes scared me, they look like Alpha's. What the hell has gotten into him? He seemed so laid back a second ago, talking about Silver must have triggered something.

"Nile, are you okay?" I said in a concerned tone as all of us looked at him.

"I'm…I'm fine just…just forget what I said." Nile said before he lied back down again.

There was a slight pause among the group after Nile had his little outburst. I never thought Nile would be so violent, I mean I know he likes to fight, but it's always been more about the challenge rather than just for the sake of carnage.

"Nile, you sure you're okay." said Marill as she leaned over the edge of the rock she sat on looking towards the Croconaw.

"I'm fine. Just go back to whatever the hell you were all talking about." Nile said in rather pouty voice as he closed his eyes.

As I thought about the current state of my Croconaw I heard Teeka bring up a good question.

"Hey, is there any way to figure out where we are?" said Teeka in a voice that was as soft as her wool.

"Yeah where the hell are we?" Duke said as the rest of the pokemon excluding Nile looked towards me and Lyra to provide an answer.

"Hey Lyra, what about your pokegear? You can use that to tell us where we are with its GPS." I said turning to look at Lyra.

"Oh good idea, I'll get it." said Lyra as she began to dig through her bag.

As Lyra dug through her bag Ray lifted the rim of his straw hat and looked at the bag.

"Lyra is the egg okay?" said Ray remembering that the egg was in her bag.

"Oh don't worry it's fine, see." Lyra said as she pulled the dark blue egg out of the bag to show the protective Electabuzz.

"Good." Ray replied as he sat down with his legs crossed and tilted his hat over his eyes.

"Now then where is that stupid thing." Lyra said as she went back to looking through her bag for the pokegear after setting the egg aside.

"Hey Ray, I've been meaning to ask you. Why are you so protective of that egg and what does Team Rocket want with it?" I asked as my curiosity got the better of me.

"I'd rather not talk about that, but the egg isn't mine if that's what you're thinking." Ray replied in a regretful tone like he was remembering something awful.

"Then whose is it?" I asked as the rest of our pokemon leaned in to hear the answer.

"...It belonged to a friend and let's leave it at that, okay...And you can stop reading my mind thank you very much Merlin. You nosy bird." Ray said glaring at the tall bird next to him.

"Sorry, bad habit of mine." Merlin replied in a dull tone like his wasn't that sorry.

"Wait you can read minds!? Since when was that a thing?" said Duke in a surprised tone.

"He can read minds?" said Drake who was equally surprised as Duke.

Except for Lyra and Nile, who were busy doing their own thing, everyone had their eye on Merlin.

"Oh I forgot that some of you don't know that." Merlin said as he preened some on his feathers.

"Merlin...how often do you read our minds?" I said in scrutinizing voice.

"Oh I frequently keep tabs on all of you." Merlin said as he gestured one of his wings towards himself.

"What the heck man you've been reading my mind ever since I met you!?" Duke exclaimed in slightly agitated voice.

Actually now that I think about it that means Merlin has been reading my mind too, which means he probably knows about my crush on Lyra. Oh god what if he tells her!

"Relax, I keep what I hear to myself. " Merlin said almost in direct response to what I was thinking.

"Well stay out of my head, got it." said Ray in a stern voice.

"Jeez Ray *snicker* you're only going to encourage him when you say things like that." Teeka giggled.

Ray just shrugged not caring for the sheep's silly comments.

"Oh you're no fun, mister grouchy." Teeka replied sticking her tongue out.

"Ah-ha found it!" Lyra exclaimed as she held the pokegear up.

"Great now find out where we are." I said looking towards her.

"Gimme a sec." said Lyra as she opened the device.

After a few moments she said, "Wow you won't believe this, but we're about two miles away from the tower, here look."

"Two miles!" I said looking at the device's screen which depicted our location on a local map.

"Why would someone take us two miles away from the city?" I said utterly confused.

"I don't know but we should go back, Morty must be worried about us." Lyra replied.

"Oh my god you're right! I didn't think of that, he must've seen the tower burn and he knew we were in there too. We have leave now, come on everyone." I said in a hurried manner.

And with that our group made a hasty retreat from the forest and towards Ecruteak. God there are so many questions still left unanswered. But those will have to wait, we need to find Morty and soon, he must think we're hurt or even dead. I wonder what happened to Kris, I hope she's okay.

* * *

I was awoken by an aching pain in my body. I slowly opened my eyes and saw dirt and grass in front of me. Where am I? Wasn't I in burning building?I leaned up to find myself in the middle of a forest. Glancing to my side I saw Champ's pokeball on the ground a few feet from me. But where was Champ? Upon further investigation I noticed that the pokeball was sealed all the way, meaning that a pokemon was inside. Oh good that means Champ was returned somehow.

I quickly reached for it but cringed when I felt a sharp pain in my left arm as I moved it. I hissed in pain at the sudden cramp and jerked my arm back.

"Owe, damn that hurts." I muttered quietly holding my arm.

I must've hurt it when I fell down the pit, but wouldn't that mean I should be in the bottom of a cave? How did I get into this forest? And why don't I remember anything? When the pain in my arm stopped I reached out with my other hand and retrieved the pokeball putting it back into my bag. But as I was doing so I realized something.

"Where are Gold and Lyra?" I muttered to myself as I looked at the surrounding forest.

I was utterly alone, for there was no one in sight. Are they stuck in the pit? Did I get rescued and they didn't? Then why aren't I in a hospital? Who moved me?

"How did I get here, where am I?" I said in a panicky manner.

Wishing not to remain where I was I quickly stood up, but struggled due to my legs being sore. I steadied myself on my aching legs while holding my hurt arm trying to get my barrings. Looking around I searched for anything resembling a trail. This isn't the first time I've been lost in the woods before, I'm an avid camper and being lost never really scared me. I'm more worried about where Lyra and Gold are and if they're okay. I turned around and found a thin path that was probably used by pokemon and started moving towards it with a slight limp.

Looking down the trail I noticed a rather large tree on the edge of the trail where it made a turn to the right. It obstructed my view of where the trail lead. I made my way to the bend in the path and saw on the other side of the tree a large flat rock jutting out of the ground. But something very large that was dark blue and had a creamy underbelly was lying on it. It's Alpha!

The moment I laid eyes on the Typhlosion I wanted to scream, but I quickly tried to cover my mouth in order to stop myself as I took a step back from the unconscious beast. Despite my best efforts I let quiet yelp out before I silenced myself. I was breathing heavily and I felt my sore legs quiver. I then saw the Typhlosion shift its position and lift its head up.

I quickly dashed around the tree and pressed my back against it as my pulse skyrocketed. Why is Alpha here?! If he sees me I'm dead! Champ was my strongest pokemon and even he didn't stand a chance against him! What do I do!? Panic starting setting in as sweat beaded down my forehead. I could hear a low growling sound from behind the tree and could hear it getting louder.

"*snarl* Who's there? I know I heard something." said a low gruntled menacing voice that made my stomach churn.

My body tensed up as my eyes widened. Who said that!? Who the hell could possibly be with Alpha that sounded so terrifying!? I had to see what was happening behind me, I had to know who said that. I slowly poked my head around the tree but I only saw the Typhlosion lying on its rock with its head raised. It was looking away from me thankfully; but who was talking a second ago?

"*snarl* Damn, it was nothing." said Alpha as it laid its head back down on the rock and closed its eyes.

Did it just talk!? What the hell is going on!? To make matters worse I saw Silver was unconscious with his head against a tree near the rock Alpha was on. He's here too!? I have to get out of here! I have to...

It was then that I thought of something, something that I would normally consider to be very stupid. In the midst of my panic it occurred to me that this may be the only chance I'll ever get to finally put a stop to Silver. He's currently unconscious and his Typhlosion is dozing back off into sleep. If I can quietly make my way to Silver I can get Alpha's pokeball from his belt and return him, and then I can get the drop on Silver.

But the thought of how horribly wrong that plan could turn out frightened me. I quickly shot down the idea and figured I should cut my losses and get out of here. I started to walk away but something held me back. My head was telling me to leave, but my gut told me I had to do something. If I run now I'll never get to be a Ranger, this maybe my only chance to prove that I'm capable of handling the responsibility of being one. The circumstances couldn't be better and this opportunity will never show up again.

Despite my better instincts, I decided that I'm not going to runaway. I turned around and made my way back to the side of the tree. I'm not going to let this chance get away. All I have to do is return the Typhlosion and subdue Silver. My Chikorita Hippea's vine whips should be enough to keep him from getting away. If I manage to do all of that, all I'd have to do is call the Rangers HQ and have them send a Ranger to retrieve him. But I have to make sure he doesn't get away, if he does and I call the Rangers I'll blow my only chance of being recruited.

Come on Crystal you can do this. This is the best chance you're ever going to get. Regardless of whether or not his pokemon can talk, you need to do this, you have to! After my little pep talk I reached for my bag and grabbed Hippea's pokeball and released her.

The stout green pokemon, whose scars have all but vanished thanks to the treatment I got her, looked up at me with glee.

"Crystal, I'm so glad to see you." Hippea said in a joyful manner.

I gasped at what I just heard before I quickly covered my mouth trying not to make noise.

"Kris what's wrong, are yoummmphh." Hippea said as I covered her mouth.

I was having a mini freak out after hearing my Chikorita speak. What the hell is going on? I thought it was just Alpha who could talk, but now Hippea too?

"You…you can talk?" I whispered as I moved my hand away from Hippea's mouth.

"Wait, you can hear what I'm saying?" Hippea said with a shocked voice before I covered her mouth again for being too loud.

"Ssshhhh." I said trying not to panic.

What the heck happening? Am I able to hear pokemon talk?

"What's wrong Kris?" Hippea mumbled through my hand.

Normally I would probably be screaming by this point if I found out that pokemon could talk, but I had to get a grip on myself. Now is not the time to freak out, Silver and his Typhlosion are on the other side of this tree, if they hear us we're dead.

"Please Hippea, keep your voice down." I whispered as I once again moved my hand away from her mouth.

"I'm sorry Kris, please tell me what's going on." Hippea whispered back to me.

I hesitated for a second before responding; I was still in shock that I was talking to my Chikorita.

After a few seconds I whispered, "Hippea, Silver and his Typhlosion are over there."

"WHATmmphh!" Hippea almost shouted before I frantically covered her mouth again.

I saw tears start form in Hippea's eyes and I could hear a muffled whimper coming from her. Oh god I forgot that I had recently found out that it was Silver who was responsible for what happened to Hippea. As I held my pokemon's mouth shut I stayed perfectly still listening for the any possible sign of the Typhlosion waking. After a few seconds I looked back down at my grass type.

"Please Hippea, I need you be quiet and listen, okay." I whispered looking into my grass types eyes.

It took her a second or two to calm herself before she nodded her head, with tears still in her eyes.

"Listen, Alpha and Silver are behind this tree, but they're asleep right now. I know that Silver did awful things to you, but if you keep quiet they won't hurt you. And I hate to make you do this, but I need your help, okay?" I whispered as I moved my hand away from Hippea's mouth hopefully for the final time.

Hippea hesitantly nodded her head again acknowledging what I said.

"Okay listen carefully, we're going to quietly sneak over and steal Silver's pokeball and return Alpha, then I need you to tie him up with vine whip, got it?"

"No, Kris please don't make me go near them.*whimper* Alpha will beat me if he sees me again. He..he…he hates me." Hippea cried quietly shaking her head in defiance to my plan.

"I know you're scared, but please I need you to help me Hippea, I promise you'll never have to see him again if you just help me. Please this might be my only chance to become a ranger." I pleaded with my grass type.

Hippea looked at me with fear in her eyes for a few moments, but then she reluctantly nodded her head.

"Please just follow my lead and it will all be over soon." I said as I peered around the tree and saw Alpha asleep on his rock and Silver was still unconscious.

This is it, one mistake now and I'm a goner. I looked for any possible paths I should take, before long I pieced together a rather wayward path to get to Silver. The path I had mapped out in my head wasn't very practical, but it was the one with the most solid ground to prevent me from making noise. With my plan in place I motioned for Hippea, who was still fearful of what we were doing, to follow me. Slowly I made way crisscrossing across the forest floor towards Silver. Hippea followed behind me trying to follow my footsteps. This wasn't easy though for there were dried leaves and sticks all over the place and one false step could wake either of them.

Things were going smoothly though and I was able to reach Silver after painstakingly watching my every step. Oh god I have to make sure I don't screw this up, if he wakes up before I take his pokeball I'm as good as dead. I peered over my shoulder checking to see if Alpha was still asleep before I slowly kneeled down next to the criminal. I looked at his belt and saw three pokeballs on it. Two of them were regular ones while the other one was an Ultraball. Interestingly enough they had the Greek symbols for alpha, beta, and gamma on them. The one with alpha on it was clearly empty and wasn't fully sealed. But wait the one with beta on it isn't fully sealed either.

As I wondered why the other one was apparently empty I heard the Typhlosion behind me shift its position. I turned my head holding my breath to see if it was awake, but I was still in the clear for Alpha merely moved a bit, but that means he's not fully asleep and I have to hurry. I turned again to look at Silver and slowly reached my hand for the pokeball on his belt. Inch by inch I moved my hand ever so cautiously. I could feel my heart pounding as the fear of him waking up filled my head.

I could see Hippea in the corner of my vision covering her eyes she was so scared that Silver might wake. My hand was mere inches away from the ball and I felt relieved that it would be over soon. When suddenly Silver's hand shot up grabbed of hold of my wrist.

I gasped as I tried to jerk my hand away but was unable to. Silver's metallic eyes then shot open and stared at me with malice in them. He then tighten his grip around my forearm to the point where it felt like he was going to crush it. In the corner of my eye I saw Hippea freeze up in fear.

"Get your fucking hands off that." Silver said glaring at me.

I was petrified with fear, I tried to yell and get away, but my body wouldn't listen. To my dismay I could hear Alpha waking up from hearing Silver's voice. No, no this can't be happening. Silver then abruptly stood up dragging me to my feet before he turned and pinned me to the tree he was leaning against holding both of my arms in place. My hurt arm surged with pain as he pressed it against the tree trunk. Silver being at least a foot taller stared down at me with his hateful silver eyes.

"I've had it with you! You stupid excuse for a ranger! You were lucky that I didn't have time to deal with you the first time I had the displeasure of meeting you, but now I'll get rid of you once and for all." Silver yelled was he tightened his grip on my arms.

I gritted my teeth trying to hold back a scream of pain as Silver slightly twisted my hurt arm. Unfortunately Silver seemed to notice this.

"But before I do that, you're going to tell me where the hell I am and why you brought me here." Silver said demanding an answer

"I…I don't know where we are. And I didn't bring you here." I said painfully.

"You're lying, now tell me where I am!" he yelled twisting my hurt arm even more.

I let out a cry of pain as Silver continued to twist my hurt arm.

"Let go of her you bully!" I heard Hippea yell from the side.

Silver turned his head clearly confused by what he just heard.

"What the hel.." He muttered before a vine whip lashed at him and knocked him off of me.

Silver was knocked to the ground, but quickly scrambled to his knees and saw who had attacked him. His face took on an intense grimace before he looked towards his Typhlosion who was waiting for his command.

"You stupid worthless Chikorita! Alpha get rid of it!" he commanded pointing towards the grass type.

"Yes master." the Typhlsion snarled as it ignited its flames and pounced towards Hippea.

In horror of seeing Hippea narrowly dodge the raging fire type I yelled, "Hippea run!"

I then turned my head and noticed that Silver's expression drastically shifted from anger to dumbfoundment. Did he hear the Typhlosion talk too? Then whatever's happening to me must be happening to him too. Wait this is perfect!

Seeing my opportunity I tackled Silver to the ground while he was confused by what was happening. I then grabbed the pokeball from his belt and got off of him before he could react.

"Give that back you bitch!" Silver yelled as he tried to grab me.

I narrowly avoided his grasp and turned to face Alpha and Hippea. To my dismay I saw Alpha had pinned the Chikorita to the ground with one arm and was rearing the other back to strike.

"Now die you pathetic runt!" Alpha growled.

"Leave her alone!" I said as I activated the return function on the monstrosity's pokeball.

In a bright flash of red light Alpha was then trapped back inside of its pokeball and Hippea was saved.

"Why you fucking brat, give that back!" I heard Silver yell from behind me.

I turned sharply and saw Silver holding out another pokeball with his finger on the button. He was about to press it, but was stopped when Hippea lashed a vine out at his hand causing him to drop it.

"Son of bitch!" Silver cringed as he held his hand in pain.

Seeing my chance I ordered, "Hippea use vine whip again and tie him up quickly!"

"Got it." Hippea said running up to me as several vines sprouted from the buds around her neck.

Silver scrambled to get his pokeball on the ground but was stopped when Hippea's vines tied his arms and legs together. This caused him to fall to the ground and curse loudly.

"Arggh, let go of me you miserable runt! " Silver barked at Hippea.

Hippea started to cower and shake where she stood as Silver glared at her. Oh no, she's still afraid of him!

"Don't listen to him! You're stronger than him Hippea!" I said looking down at the stout grass type.

The Chikorita hesitated for a second before she said, "You're right, I'm not going to let you scare me anymore!"

Silver took on a look of bewilderment after hearing Hippea speak again.

"So you did speak. How the fuck can you talk!? What the hell is going on!?" he yelled in utter confusion.

"Can it Silver!" I said defiantly.

"I hope you're ready to face justice Silver." I said as I pulled out my phone and dialed the emergency number the Rangers gave me in case I caught anyone.

I can't believe it, I actually caught Silver, my luck has finally turned around. As the phone rang Silver shouted to be released.

"Hippea can you please shut him up." I asked my grass type.

"Sure thing Kris." Hippea said nodding her head as she sent out another vine that wrapped around Silver's mouth shutting him up.

I have to admit that seeing the supposed high profile criminal tied up and in this humiliating position made me smile a bit. After a few more seconds I heard someone answer my call.

"This is the Pokemon Rangers, what is your situation?"

"It's me Kris, I'm in the trial program. I called to say that I have the criminal Silver currently subdued and need someone to be sent here to retrieve him." I said to the operator on the other end.

"Where is your current location?" the operator asked.

"Hold on a second." I replied as I grabbed my GPS from my bag.

I quickly read off the coordinates to the operator. Apparently I was about three miles away from Ecruteak. Jeez how did I end up all the way out here?

"Thank you Kris, we're looking of a nearby Ranger to send to your location now *pause* You're in luck, Jordan Wake is currently in Ecruteak. We'll have him come and retrieve the criminal; expect him to be there in under ten minutes. And good work Kris." the operator said before he hung up.

Did he say Jordan Wake was coming? The Jordan Wake!?

"Oh my god Jordan Wake is coming!" I squealed.

"You hear that Silver; you're in for it now. Jordan Wake himself is coming here to put you behind bars!" I said in a nagging manner as I pointed towards him.

Silver ceased his struggling when he heard what I said. I think this is the first time I've ever seen him genuinely scared. He then started struggling again trying to break free as he mumbled something through the vines that covered his mouth, but I couldn't make it out. Though I didn't have to be a genius to figure out he was probably threatening to do something if I didn't release him.

"Kris who's Jordan Wake?" Hippea asked looking up at me.

"Oh him? Jordan is a famous Pokemon Ranger in Johto, he's also a bit of a celebrity, and he's dreamy too." I said as I remembered some of the various things Jordan has done.

He's apprehended dozens and dozens of criminals and has a track record of helping out anywhere he is needed. From helping put out fires, to stopping bank robberies, and even search and rescue missions Jordan has down it all. He ranks as one of the top ten Rangers in Johto and he is and inspiration to many. And I um, I kind of have a crush on him. He's the main reason I wanted to become a Ranger in the first place, thinking that if I became one I'd have a chance to be with Jordan and if I'm lucky enough maybe even be his girlfriend. I know it seems silly, but I've had crush on him for as long as I can remember. Even though thousands of other girls do too.

"I can't believe it, I'm going to meet the man of my dreams." I said closing my eyes and holding my hands together as I imagined Jordan sweeping me off my feet.

"Oh I hope he gets here soon. But wait, what am I going to say to him when he gets here? Should I be formal with him, or should I just act cool? Oh my god what if I choke up when he talks to me, if I do that he'll think I'm just some other star struck girl. Oh god I'm not ready for this I don't want to blow my first impression." I said nervously as I paced back and forth wondering what I'll do when he gets here.

"Kris, why are you so worried? He's just a ranger, right. You've said you meet rangers before." said Hippea as she continue to restrain Silver in her vines.

"You don't get it, this isn't just some other ranger Hippea. This is the Jordan Wake we're talking about here. If I screw up and act weird the first time I meet him I'll never have a chance of being with him." I said looking down at Hippea.

"Wait, if he see's you talking he might think I'm some sort of freaky girl with a talking pokemon. No I can't let that happen," I said nervously and I held my hands up to my head.

"Hippea please whatever you do don't talk when he gets here, please I don't want to freak him out." I pleaded with my Chikorita.

"Um…okay Kris, if that's what you want." Hippea said in a slightly disappointed tone.

I then heard Silver mumble something very loudly as he continued to struggle.

"Oh shut up you crook, You had this coming! How does it feel to know that Jordan Wake is going to lock you up forever." I said defiantly staring back at Silver whose glare was full of anger.

Turning away from him with my arms crossed I said, "Well he isn't going anywhere, I guess I'll just kill time and wait for Jordan to get here. I wonder what he's like in person."

After finding somewhere comfortable to sit I tried my best to keep myself occupied. I took off my back pack and set it aside after pulling out my old cyan colored Gameboy. Five or so minutes passed and after beating the next level in Metroid I noticed Silver was still trying to escape the vines. Jeez this guy is scary, does he ever give up? I looked away from the redheaded boy and wondered about my future career as a ranger.

I mean I was able to capture Silver so they Rangers will have to make me a member, I'm sure of it. I'll get the uniform with the cool red vest, the badge, the gear, and everything else. If I work hard enough I might be able to get that red trench coat they give to high ranked rangers. I wonder if I can get partnered up with Jordan? Oh that would be a dream come true.

As my thoughts continued on about Jordan and his heroics I noticed something out of the corner of my eye. Silver had stopped struggling and was looking up at something just past me. He had a devious look in his eyes, like he knew something I didn't. I slowly started turning my head.

"What are you looking..*gaspe*" I said before I was startled by what looked like an icicle that was shot into the ground between my legs.

"What the hell was that!" I said as I scrambled to crawl away from the icicle.

"Kris, you okay?" Hippea called out looking away from Silver for moment when yet another shard of ice struck the ground near my grass type.

Hippea jumped away in response but couldn't move very far due to her vines holding Silver down. Hoping to find where the ice was coming from I looked towards where Silver was looking and saw a three foot black creature with a red feather on its head standing on one of the tree branches that was directly behind me.

"What is that thing!?" I said standing up as the creature in the trees held up one of its clawed hands with several shards of ice between its fingers.

The dark type quickly tossed the shards like throwing knives towards me and Hippea. We were able to narrowly avoid the attacks but when I looked back I noticed the pokemon was on the move in the trees.

"Hippea quickly use…" I ordered but stopped when I realized that she was busy trying to hold Silver.

"Kris?" Hippea muttered in a confused tone wondering what she was supposed to do.

"No wait stay there, I'll get Champ." I said as I dashed over to my back pack.

I grabbed a hold of one to the straps and held it up. But before I could open the zipper an icicle impaled my bag and tore it out of my grip pinning it to a nearby tree. I yelped loudly as I jumped back in response to what had just happened. After recovering from the shock I dashed towards my bag.

"Kris help me!" I heard Hippea cried from behind me forcing me to skid to a halt and turn.

I was horrified to see the dark pokemon pinning my grass type to the ground with it's claws around her neck. How did it get there so fast!?

"No, don't hurt her!" I yelled at the pokemon that was taking Hippea hostage.

"I take it from what I've seen earlier that you can understand me, is that right?" said the dark colored pokemon in a cold yet eerily playful voice.

I paused for a second still bewildered by the thought of seeing another pokemon talk.

"I said isn't that right!" the dark type said threatening to dig its claws into Hippea.

"Yes, yes I can!" I said frantically in response.

"Well then I have a propostion for you. Let's say you hand over that pokeball you stole and make your grass type here let go of my master, in return I won't slit this pokemon's throat." The dark type said as it reared its claws up ready to attack

"No stop, don't hurt her!"

"Then make her let go of my master and give me the pokeball." the dark type said glaring back at me.

No, no this can't be happening. I finally got him, I finally caught my one way ticket to being a Ranger. But now my lousy luck has run out once again. If I don't comply Hippea is going to die, what do I do?

"I'm waiting, cough up the ball and make her release Silver or I'll make her do it!" the dark type barked at me with its claws pressed against hippea's neck.

I wanted to stand defiant, I want to yell no, but I couldn't. So I gave in.

"Hippea….. let go of Silver." I said in a defeated tone.

"But Kris, it's Silver you can't…" Hippea argued back before I cut her off.

"Just do it, I don't want you to die!" I yelled with a tear in my eye knowing that I was so close to achieving my dream.

But now Silver is going to get away and the rangers will think I'm a failure and a fraud for wasting their time and calling in a capture. Hippea was reluctant at first but she then listened to what I told her to do and retracted her once free from entanglement got up to his feet and brushed himself off in calm manner like he knew he had won. Hair was draping over his right eye, but none the less his gaze was no less hateful.

He then walked over to his dark type and said, "Excellent work Beta, now then get rid of that stupid walking shrub."

"As you wish." The dark type replied as it hoisted Hippea up and tossed her towards me as I quickly scrambled over to see if she was okay.

Kneeling down I cradled my grass type in my arms.

"Now hand over that pokeball you thief." Silver said in a cold voice as he and his pokemon walked over to me.

I looked back up at the tall redheaded boy who stared down at me. I clenched the pocket with the pokeball in it.

"You can't have it Silver. I'm not going to let you hurt more people with that beast! Pokemon are meant to be friends not tools!" I barked at him refusing to let him win.

"I have a lot of shit on my plate right now, and being lost in the middle of the woods with an ignorant stuck up brat who thinks they can tell me what do is not something I'm going to waste my time with." Silver said as his cold silvery eyes zeroed in on mine.

"Now I'm not going to ask again, hand over what fucking belongs to me or else!" he said issuing his ultimatum.

"No!" I said holding Hippea close to me.

"Fine then you asked for it. Beta use.." Silver said before he was cut off by a voice from behind him.

"Step away from the girl Silver."

At that moment I saw Silver's eyes widen as he froze up for a second before he slowly turned around to see who was behind him. Looking past Silver I saw a tall boy roughly seventeen to eighteen years old standing ten yards out in the forest. He wore the distinct Pokemon Ranger's specialist red trench coat with black pants and shirt under that. His waist was adorned with various utility belts and Rangers gear. His eyes were blue and his blonde hair was short and spiky. His face was handsome with strong features and he wore a determined look on it. Standing next to him was some kind of red reptilian pokemon with a spike on the back of its head and a flame on the end of its tail.

It was Jordan Wake.

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**In case you're curious the nickname "Hippea" is the a shortened version of Hippeastrum which is the genus of the flower that Meganium is based on. The more you know.**

**Any way hoped you like it.**

**So next time on Dragon ball *cough* I mean the Johto Legacy, will Silver fight Jordan? Who is this new Ranger that Kris has a crush on? Will Kris finally become a Pokemon Ranger herself? And Will Gold re-challenge Frieza *cough* I mean Morty? Tune in next time! Probably next Sunday.**


	20. Chapter 20

**Okay i'm going to start making my chapters a little more manageable from now on( due to lack of free time), so they're going to on average 4000 to 5000 words from now on so i can edit them more quickly and efficiently. Sorry but long chapters are going to have to take a back seat for awhile.**

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Chapter 20: Strength of a Real Ranger

Jordan's blue eyes were locked on Silver as his fire type, which I believe was called a Charmeleon, stood ready by his side. His very presence seemed to emanate the impressive skill he is said to possess. Silver stood in front of me facing the Ranger, but his composure was not normal. He seemed tensed and quite possibly terrified, his fingers were becoming fidgety and his stance was a bit off set giving the impression he's ready run. Seeing as he and his dark type were looking back at Jordan I took this opportunity to crawl away from Silver and hide behind a nearby tree. Fearing for Hippea's safety I quickly returned her to her pokeball, knowing that Silver would most likely fight Jordan and if that happened things would get ugly.

"Silver, as a Pokemon Ranger I'm obligated to give you one chance to step down, but judging by the look on your face, I think I already know what you're going to do." Jordan said pointing towards Silver.

Silver, although hesitant at first, took a step forward and clenched his fist.

"What did you say to me? You calling me a coward!" Silver said defiantly, but I could sense a hint of uneasiness in his voice.

He must be scared, who wouldn't be, this is Jordan Wake the guy who some claim can take out entire gangs by himself.

"So you wanna fight huh? *chuckle*" Jordan said with a slight smirk that exuded confidence.

"Arrgh, don't you dare mock me! You think you're so god damn tough don't cha!? You might be pokemon ranger, but I'll beat you just like everyone else. And I'll wipe that damn smirk off your face while I'm at it!" Silver barked back at Jordan

"Well he can't say I didn't warn him, isn't that right Charcoal?" Jordan said shrugging with a cool and playful smile.

His Charmeleon nodded its head before saying, "Heh, he's in for it now."

I was a little shocked when I clearly heard the Charmeleon talk; I'm still not used to seeing it. I could tell that Silver heard the lizard talk too, but Jordan didn't seem to react to it at all. I don't get it, his pokemon was talking clear as day; why didn't he hear it? Is it because for some reason me and Silver are the only ones who can hear them talk?

"Stop acting so cocky you bastard, Beta go and use night slash!" Silver commanded angrily.

Silver's dark type nodded its head and dashed towards the crimson duo.

"Alright Charcoal let's make this quick for the boys behind us, counter with dragon claw." Jordan ordered in quick response to the dark types advance as his fire lizard dashed past him.

I noticed as the fight began to unfold that Jordan, unlike Silver who stood ready for a fight, was very calm and relaxed in composure. My attention was quickly diverted away from Jordan and towards the pokemon as they raced towards each other. Charcoal's claws began to glow red as Beta's talons gave off a hazy mist of black energy. Before the two met the dark type dashed forward with blinding speed lunging one of its claws at The fire type. The attack was closing in on Charcoal too quickly, there was no way he could dodge it. To my surprise, instead of attempting to dodge Charcoal threw his arm forward and clashed with the shadowy attack stopping it in its tracks. But Beta was ready for that.

"Got'cha now." Beta snickered as he swung his other arm up towards Charcoals neck.

But even with the blinding speed at which Beta swung his arm, Charcoal was able to quickly duck under the attack. Then using his other arm he grabbed Beta's clawed hand and he flipped the dark type over his shoulder. The speed and precision with which the Charmeleon was able to execute this maneuver was astounding.

"What! How is it so fast!?" Silver exclaimed, clearly in shock of Charcoal's impressive reflexes.

"Beta get back up already and use ice shard!" he ordered with his fist clenched.

"Tch, try this on for size lizard!" Beta snickered creepily as he somersaulted back unto his feet, letting loose several icicles from his hands in the process.

"Charcoal, quickly use heatwave!" Jordan ordered motioning his command with his gloved hand.

The Charmeleon let loose a powerful roar as the fire on his tail erupted into a massive flame. I could feel the air around me heat up intensely as I saw a wave of super heated air melt the incoming icicles and head towards Beta. As the burning hot air buffeted against the Sneasel I saw Charcoal kick off into a full sprint towards Beta.

"Move out of the way you moron!" Silver barked at his pokemon who was still bracing against the infernal wind.

Shrugging off the onslaught of heat Beta quickly readied himself as Charcoal closed in. At the last possible moment Beta jumped and flipped over the red reptile like a nimble acrobat. Just before he could land though, the Charmeleon quickly swept his tail around and smashed Beta to the side. It took me a second to realize what had just happened, it was so fast. How can this brutish looking pokemon have such great reflexes?

"Charcoal now use flamethrower." Jordan ordered motioning his hand.

The fire type quickly inhaled and let loose a plume of flames towards the still recovering dark type. Seeing the incoming attack Beta quickly dashed to the side, but I could tell that Beta had just barely reacted in time for it stumbled a bit. Amazingly before the flames could even disperse the fire type had dashed towards the dark type cutting him off from his attempts to escape. How did it get there so quickly!? I could barely follow it!

"What, how'd you…!?" the dark type shrieked while it was still on the move before it was smashed across the face with a dragon claw attack.

Then in another great feat of speed the Charmeleon swung it's other hand around and grabbed one of Beta's arms before he could even fall on the dirt below. Charcoal then spun around and tossed Beta towards a nearby tree. As the dark type crashed against the tree Charcoal quickly ran forward and smashed his entire body weight into Beta slamming him against the tree once again. I was shocked to see the tree buckle a little as the sound of wood splintering filled the air.

Dear god how hard did he hit him!? This is unbelievable; I've never seen a pokemon operate at such a high skill level before. Jordan's Charmeleon is so fast and powerful, I don't even think if Silver had Alpha by his side he would be any match for this pokemon. The craziest thing is just how unremarkable his pokemon appears to be, but who is in reality a power house. I mean for god's sake the thing is only four feet tall!

The strangest thing was when I glanced over at Silver I saw something new in him. Those metallic eyes of his, which have shown me nothing but hate and anger, were filled with incredulity and disbelief. I could also see his hands were shaking a bit. It's like whatever his previous conceptions of how powerful he was were just shattered and he was coming to terms with just how powerful Jordan really was.

"Good now follow with fire spin." Jordan ordered motioning his command.

"You got it." the Charmeleon said grinning, but once again Jordan didn't take notice to it.

"Beta move!" said Silver with his eyes wide and in a slight panicky tone.

But before the dazed dark type could recover from the intense attack, Charcoal grabbed a hold of him and tossed him out into the clearing. Then the Charmeleon spun around and whipped his tail towards Beta as thin vortex of fire was brewed up from his tail and sent towards the still airborne dark type. Before Beta could hit the ground he was swallowed up by the intense spinning inferno. The Sneasel was then flung around the inside of the vortex like a children's toy.

"God damn it, get out of there Beta!" Silver yelled still in a panicky tone that he tried to mask with anger as he witnessed his helpless pokemon swirl around inside the flaming vortex.

"Well I think we let him cook long enough. Charcoal let's finish this with dragon claw." Jordan ordered as his Charmeleon dashed towards the vortex with draconic energy flowing through his arms.

Just before he reached the swirling mass of fire, Charcoal leaped up rearing his arm back and closed in on the Sneasel. Once inside the swirling mass of fire, Charcoal slashed his claws down into the hapless dark type knocking him straight out of the vortex and into the ground.

The force with which Beta hit the ground was so intense that a cloud of dirt was kicked up into the air along with a hideous thud sound. The churning mass of fire then dispersed and Charcoal dropped to the ground and assumed a fighting stance waiting to see if the dark type would rise. Oh my god, that last attack was so powerful and the Charmeleon didn't even break a sweat! This four foot lizard maybe even stronger than Alpha!

Silver stood there looking at his unconscious dark type with his metallic eyes showing fear. I don't think Silver has ever lost like this before and his face clearly showed it; though that quickly changed.

"Why… you bastard, I'll show you." he yelled as he reached for his belt.

But then I saw his eyes widen was he felt the edges of his belt.

"Where is it!?" he said in slight panicky tone.

He then looked to the side and saw that his other pokeball he had earlier was on the ground several yards from him. He must've forgotten that Hippea whipped it out of his hand. Before Silver could do anything I saw Charcoal dash forward and sweep his tail around knocking Silvers legs out from underneath him. He then fell hard onto the ground face first. He groaned for a second and tried to get back up, but was quickly pinned there as the fire type planted his foot on Silver's back. He wasn't going anywhere.

"Get off of me you fucking…" Silver yelled turning his head and glaring up at the lizard out of the corner of his eye, but stopped when Charcoal threatened to attack him pointing his claws towards his head.

"Good work Charcoal, keep him quiet for now." Jordan said with confidence as he put his hands into the deep pockets of his red coat.

"Understood." The fire type replied, but still Jordan did not respond to it.

Jordan then casually strolled over to Silver as he pulled out a PDA-like device from one of his pockets. He quickly tapped something on its screen but I couldn't see what he was doing from where I was.

"Whoa, you've got a quite a record on you. Too bad you're charade ends here." Jordan remarked with rather cool and confident voice.

"Shove it up your aarrhhh." Silver groaned as the Charmeleon pressed down harder on his back shutting him up.

"*Chuckle* someone has a foul mouth." Jordan said as he put the PDA back into one of the various pockets of his coat.

After Jordan's comment I heard two people approach from where Jordan emerged. It looks like he didn't come alone. Jordan turned and saw the other two people who both wore the standard issue Ranger's vest. One was rather short with green hair while the other was a bit beefier and had a buzz cut.

"Well it's about time you guys showed up." Jordan remarked in jeering tone.

"Hey don't complain to us man, you're the one with the crazy ass motorcycle while we're stuck with the freaking jeep." the one with the buzz cut complained.

"Oh sounds like someone is jealous. Look you two mind doing me a favor and take this convict back to the jeep that you two so lovingly adore and take him back to the station." Jordan remarked in joking attitude.

"*sigh* Right away Jordan." the green one replied as he pulled out a pair of cuffs.

At this point I was expecting Silver to attempt to get away, or even threaten to do something, but that was not the case. instead Silver only glared back at me from where he laid. He must really hate me right now and blames his current predicament entirely on me.

"You coming back with us?" the other ranger asked as he kneeled down and cuffed Silver before Charcoal lifted his foot off of him..

"No I need to stay here for a bit longer, I have to chat with someone named Crystal."Jordan said in jeering voice as he turned his head and looked at me as I stood behind the tree.

I thought he had forgotten about me during his fight and I choked up for second when he smiled at me. Oh no just him looking at me is making me so nervous. No you have to get a grip, don't screw this up.

"You are Crystal right?" he asked.

"Um… yeah… that's um…me." I said still peering over the side of the tree as the one of Rangers started walking off with Silver in custody while the other one took Silver's ultraball and returned the passed out Sneasel as well as going over to grab the other pokeball that Silver dropped.

"My name is Jordan, it's nice to meet you." Jordan said in a friendly voice

"It's….nice to… meet you too." I said stuttering a little.

"You uh, you gonna move from behind that tree?" Jordan remarked in sarcastic tone.

"I'd much rather talk to you face to face, not big fan of having a tree in the way; kinda puts a damper on our conversation, don't cha think?" He said jokingly as he leaned a little to the side and crossed his arms.

"What…oh of course! Sure I'll be right there, heh heh." I said in a flustered manner as I moved from around the side of the tree and started walking towards Jordan.

Oh no this isn't going well, I've hardly spoken to him and I already seem weird, come on Kris just act natural. As I walked up to him my mind raced around with possible things I should say. Oh god I'm so worried, this is Jordan Wake, the Jordan Wake! To make matters worst the other Rangers have left and now I'm all alone with him. I need to say something cool, or funny.

"So you're the one that called HQ?" Jordan asked as I was still walking towards him.

"Yes...it was me who.." I said before I felt my foot get caught in an exposed root that was jutting out of the ground.

"Waah." I yelped as I clumsily stumbled and nearly ran into him.

Jordan then reacted quickly and grabbed my shoulders before I fell into him. Oh on, please tell me that didn't just happen. Did I seriously just trip and fall into him!?

"Whoa, watch your step, you okay?" Jordan said as he stood me back up.

But I didn't respond, I kind of just stood there in shock of the embarrassing thing I just did.

Jordan tilted his head a bit as he raised his eyebrow and said, "Umm...you okay?"

"What...oh I'm fine, sorry I just uh…" I said as came to my senses.

"_Right._" Jordan said slowly like he wasn't sure what my deal was.

"Anyway, can you tell me what happened here?" he asked.

"Oh I um uh, well, it started when I wo..." I said before I stopped.

Wait should I really tell him I woke up in the middle of the woods? No don't do that! If you tell him that he'll think you're a freak!

"You what?" Jordan said as his face showed his confusion towards me.

"I uhh… I umm." I said as I tried to come up with something believable.

The awkwardness of this entire situation was really eating away at me. I felt like I had a knot in my chest and I couldn't think clearly. But the fact that I'm not responding to him right away and still thinking about what to say is making me feel even more high-strung. Come on Kris, say something already, say anything and stop looking like a freak!

"Pfft, oh great, yet another star struck girl who can't even speak to him cause they're too choked up. When will you learn Jordan that stupid girls like this are just trying to get with you *sigh*" Charcoal remarked as he crossed his arms and blew a small flame out of his mouth as he looked to the side.

"Hey, I heard that!" I said looking down at the rude reptile who took a step back with a surprised look on his face.

"Who are you talking too?" Jordan asked.

My eyes widened and my body tensed up as I realized that Jordan can't hear Charcoal talking. Which means from his perspective I just yelled angrily at nothing.

"What no, I was uh, ummmm..." I said in a panicky voice as I nervously held my arm.

What do I do, what do I do!? He must think I'm a freak by now. Oh what's the use, I should just tell him what happened.

"*sigh*... I'm sorry... I just... I'm a little stressed out okay." I said before I took a deep breathe in order to try and calm myself.

"Here let me just tell you what happened, I've been tracking Silver for a long time and only recently I was able to apprehend him, but he was able to break free because I wasn't careful." I said in a low tone looking away from Jordan, trying not to stress myself by looking at him.

"He was going to do something awful to me too...But then you showed up and saved me. So thank you...and I'm sorry if I'm acting weird, it's just that well...everyone knows your name and..." I said before Jordan cut me off.

"Look it's okay you don't need to apologize, I understand, I get it all the time."

I didn't respond though, I feel too queasy and ashamed to really talk at this point.

"You said that you were able to apprehend Silver, by yourself?" Jordan said breaking the silence.

"Well...it was more like...dumb luck and he got loose anyway." I said in defeated tone.

"But you still did, right?"

"Sorta." I said in meek tone as I looked back at his blue eyes.

"That's impressive."

"Huh?"

"I said, what you did was impressive. I know it may have looked like child's play for me, but I could tell that Silver was stronger than your average trainer, and you were able to stop him." Jordan explained.

"No wait you don't understand, I didn't fight him, he was just passed out and I was only able to get him because I stole his pokeball and sealed away his strongest pokemon." I exclaimed holding out Alpha's pokeball to show him.

"I didn't fight him, it's like I said, it was dumb luck and a shitty plan." I added.

"Being a Ranger doesn't mean you have to be strong, you also have to be resourceful and find alternative ways to doing things. And what you did was very clever and I'm seriously impressed."

"You're...impressed?" I said as I felt my cheeks blush a bit.

"Didn't I hear that you're part of the recruitment program." he asked.

"Yeah" I said in timid tone.

"How would you like it if you came back to the station with me and I personally recommended your acceptance into the Rangers?"

I paused for a second before saying, "R…really?...But I failed to apprehend him, you can only be a ranger if you successfully captured a wanted individual and I failed." I said in defeated tone

"But that wasn't your average criminal; no causal trainer could, or even have the guts to try and capture someone like Silver. I think they'll make exception, especially for a cute girl such as yourself."

My cheeks blushed red when he said that, and I quickly tried to hide it.

"You'd...you'd do that for me?" I said trying to hide my embarrassed face.

"*chuckle* I wouldn't if I didn't think you deserved it."

Oh my god, is this really happening to me? The famous Jordan Wake is going to get me into the Rangers!

"Here come with me, I'll give you a ride to the station on my motorcycle." he said turning around as his Charmeleon followed him.

I was hesitant at first, but then I started walking after him. My mind was going crazy as I tried to process what was going on. I can't believe it, I don't know how to feel, I'm so happy, confused, and embarrassed all at the same time. My luck has finally turned around.

As I was following Jordan I heard what sounded like a phone's ringer go off. Jordan looked into one of the many pockets in his coat and pulled out a black colored Pokegear. Wow he even has a Pokegear, he really is famous.

"Oh hang on a second, it's my little sis calling I have to take this." he said as he looked at his Pokegear's screen.

"Your sister, you have a sister?" I said confused because I never heard of Jordan having any siblings.

"Oh she's a coordinator, and a really good one too." he replied as he answered his phone.

"What is it sis?...So Dad needs me to do something huh? What is it?...Oh I see...What about that thing Dad asked you to do?...What do you mean you're still working on it?...Someone got in the way, what does that mean?...*sigh* Then what are you doing now?...The battle tower? Why are you going there?...Oh you're looking for 'him'...Well, make sure you tell Dad I'm on it, alright bye." Jordan then hung up and put his Pokegear away.

"What was that all about?" I asked.

"Oh it's boring family stuff. You know how it is, younger siblings doing as they please and not really bothering to take care of business, overall you wouldn't want to know the details."

"Um alright." I said knowing that he was probably right and I didn't want to know.

"So oh, where's your motorcycle?" I asked.

"Well, I wouldn't really call it a motorcycle, but I don't know what else you would really call it so everyone just calls it that." Jordan replied.

"What do you mean?"

"Just wait, you'll see." Jordan said with a smirk on his face.

"Umm...okay" I said timidly as I wondered what he meant.

As we continued to walk through the woods I heard Jordan start to casually hum the beat to some popular song that I've heard before, but couldn't really recall the name. As he was humming he reached into yet another one of his pockets and pulled out something that was a metallic red color and held it to the side. After a quick flick of his fingers the object he pulled out flipped open and revealed itself to be a butterfly knife with a fancy engraving of a rose on the blade. Wow that thing is pretty neat and the way he flips it around in his fingers so casually is pretty cool. Jordan continued to play with the knife flipping it open and closed over and over again as he continued to hum. It's like the equivalent of someone snapping their fingers when they walk.

My curiosity about his knife got the better of me and I asked, " How are you able to do that?"

"Blood, sweat, repetition, a few victims, and lots of cut fingers." he said in a serious tone.

"Victims?" I replied in a slightly shocked tone.

"Nah I'm just messing yah *chuckle* I started with a dulled blade and just practiced." he said jokingly as he spun the knife closed and put it back in his pocket.

"Here we're almost there, it's just around this corner." Jordan said pointing towards the end of the path.

As we made a turn around a bend in the path I could see a dirt road with some sort of large machine parked on it. Oh my god that thing is huge, but it was weird looking though. The back half of the machine looked like your average motorcycle with a larger than usual rear wheel, but that was only a small part of it. The front part was what really stood out, instead of another wheel there was a massive row of engines with several mufflers branching off of them that pointed backwards. Underneath the engines looked like some kind of mini jet engine thing that pointed downward.

"Jordan….what is that thing?" I said in an astonished voice as I stopped in my tracks.

"This baby right here is a little souvenir I brought back from when I went to the Orre region on vacation." Jordan said as he returned Charcoal into his pokeball and continued walking up to his machine.

"The Orre region?" I said confused because I've never heard of that region before.

"It's not too far from Hoenn and its mostly a desert there anyway. Now then they usually make this model with a sidecar but I didn't get that for this one so you're going to have to sit behind me and hold on." he said as he sat down on the drivers seat and turned on the large machine.

The engines were thunderous and roared as he revved the them to warm them up. The monstrous machine's front end then started to lift up as air rushed out of the propulsion device. I kinda just stood there, for I was in awe of this strange machine.

"Well you gonna get on or are you just gonna stand there? You can always walk if you want?" Jordan said jokingly.

"What, oh yeah I'll be right there." I said reluctantly as I walked up to him.

The machine was clearly made for one person, there was barely any room left for me on the back. I was still hesitant to get on, I mean it kinda just hit me that I was going to go for a ride with Jordan Wake. This is the kind of thing that girls would kill to get the chance of doing. But I pushed through that hesitation and got on the back. I then timidly grabbed the edges of his coat to get a hold of something.

"Heh, you're going to have to hold on much tighter than that, this thing has some serious kick." Jordan snickered as he looked back at me.

"What do you…" I said but yelped when Jordan let his machine jerk forward a bit.

When he did that I suddenly felt an intense kick that made me jerk backwards. Without really thinking I instinctively I wrapped my arms around Jordan's torso. When I finally noticed that the machine wasn't moving anymore I blushed a little as I realized how tightly I was holding him.

"*chuckle* Just stay like that and you'll be fine." Jordan said in cool manner.

It was at that moment Jordan let the machine kick into gear and I felt the real might of this mechanical monster. Once the machine really got going it went at ridiculous speeds and made turns around corners I thought were impossible at such velocities. I'd probably be very interested in how this machine was able to make such sharp turns, but I was too worried about falling off and holding onto Jordan was the only thing I could really focus on.

You know I think I've fantasized about this at least once or twice, and I'd probably be really enjoying this. Or at least I would be if it weren't for the fact I was too scared. I wasn't really sure of where we were going cause I kept my eyes closed as I felt Jordan take his machine around various turns down the dirt path we were on. Jordan must have a lot of skill in order to drive this thing, especially down the sharp turns he was taking. At the speed we're going it's no wonder he got to me so quickly.

Is this really happening to me, I mean this kind of thing doesn't happen to normal people, especially me. I've been really unlucky my entire life, and people would always call me clumsy. Is this a dream, could this really be happening to me of all people? Maybe I should stop questioning it and just enjoy my incredible turn of luck. I wonder if Gold and Lyra are alright?

* * *

**Isn't that cute, it looks like things are turning out great for Crystal, I wonder how Silver is going to cope with his current predicament?**

**Anyway hope you enjoyed.**


	21. Chapter 21

**Man I was planning to make this chapter way shorter, but hey once you're in the zone you can't stop writing. But expect future chapters to be much shorter. Any way enjoy.**

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Chapter 21: Things are Looking Up.

The city of Ecruteak was in the state of shock from what Lyra and I could tell as we made our way to the gym. It was quite shocking to me to see barely any people in the streets and what few who were wore distressful looks on their faces. The trip to Morty's gym was long and uneasy; this city must be shocked from what little remained of the brass tower was just set ablaze again. When we found the entrance to the forest path that lead to Morty's gym we stopped for a second.

"What do you think Morty will say when he see's us?" Lyra asked in an uneasy tone.

"He'll probably freak out or something. I mean he…he probably thinks we're dead." I said in a dismal tone.

"Please don't say that, it freaks me out that someone thinks I'm dead." Lyra shuddered as she looked down and held her arms.

I shouldn't have said that, I didn't think she'd be freaked out by that.

"I'm sorry I…I didn't mean to upset you." I said motioning toward her.

"No, it's okay you're right, Morty probably does think we're dead. Let's just find him quickly and get this over with." she said in hurried manner while still looking down.

Great now I feel like an ass for bringing up the whole thinking we're dead thing. I hate when I say things without really thinking, I keep saying things to Lyra that I regret. After a few moments of silence we both made our way down the path into the forest. It wasn't long till the surrounding area got dark again due to the thick canopy; even though it was day time. The talk of death and the darkening atmosphere were an awful combination and it didn't sit well with me. Lyra still looks upset and the ambient darkness of the surrounding trees only amplified the sad expression on her face.

I need to think about something else, get my mind of what I said. But that didn't help much because I began to wonder if our parents know anything about this? If any of our moms found out about half the things we've been through they wouldn't hesitate to hunt us down and take us home and never let us leave Newbark again. Lyra has always wanted to break free of the borders of Newbark and this journey means a lot to her, but that would end if our mothers caught wind of this. I don't want to ruin Lyra's chance to see the world; we have to find Morty as quickly as possible and make sure this doesn't spread, so that Lyra doesn't have to go home.

As we were walking I began to wonder what we should say when we find Morty, but my thoughts were interrupted when Lyra spoke up.

"Gold?" she said softly.

"Yeah?" I replied as I turned my head to look at her.

"Do you think we should tell him?" she said timidly.

"Tell him what?"

"You know….about what happened to us." she said turning her head to look up at me.

"You mean the fall?"

"No not that….I mean….about us being able to talk to pokemon." she said in low tone while nervously holding her arm.

"Oh that…I uh...I don't know." I said scratching the back of my neck.

"Should we keep it a secret?"

"What do you mean?" I asked in a confused tone.

"I mean, when Naoko told us she could talk to them she….she seemed very reluctant to tell us." Lyra said stopping in place.

"What are you talking about?" I asked as I stopped as well.

"I mean, didn't it seem like she only told us because she thought we needed to know, like it was her secret."

What was she talking about? I don't remember Naoko being reluctant about telling us at all. Although she was crying when she told us, but that was only because she was afraid of what was going to happen to Duke, right? Or did Lyra notice something that I didn't when she told us? I mean, I'm not the best at reading subtle things in people, so maybe Lyra picked up on something I didn't?

"Lyra, are you sure about that? She was practically crying because Duke was going to fight Tsar when she told us, you sure you're not mistaking that for her being reluctant?" I asked.

"Look Gold I…..can we please just keep this between us...I'm….I'm….I'm afraid of what other people will think of us." she said nervously as she tugged on my sweatshirt like she was begging me.

Oh wow, she's serious. This is weird; I thought Lyra would be the first person to boast to the world that she could talk to pokemon. If she's so concerned about this then I have no other choice than to promise not to tell; cause I'll do anything for her.

"Alright, I won't tell anyone, okay." I said trying to cheer her up.

"You promise?" she said looking at me with her chocolate eyes.

"I promise." I said knowing that I couldn't say no to her when she looks at me like that.

"Thank you." she replied as she let go of my sleeve and I could see a slight smile on her face.

I'm glad I could make her feel a little better; she must really trust me when I make a promise to her. I don't plan on every betraying that trust either, she's my best friend and I'd never do anything to hurt her. We didn't talk much after that as we continued on our way to the Ghost Gym.

Once again the pagoda looking Gym seemed to appear out of nowhere and caught us both by surprise. This place is just creepy; how it manages to seemingly appear out of nowhere even though I remember roughly where it is confuses me.

Without as much as a single word we both started walking towards the entrance. We pushed open the large dark colored doors that swung to the side with an eerie creak like the hinges were rusty. When we set foot into to the gym we heard Morty call out from the back.

"I'm sorry I'm not having visitors today, I thought I made it clear that the gym was closed until further notice, it's disgraceful to want to fight when something so sacred was burned." Morty's voice echoed from the darkness in a dismal tone.

"But Morty it's…" Lyra called out into the dark room before the Gym leader emerged from the darkness with a grimace on his face.

"I said we're closed! So go home and…." Morty said angrily before he realized who we were.

"Oh my god….you're...you're alive." Morty said in disbelief.

"I'm so sorry, I didn't know it was you two. I'm so glad that that you made it out as well." Morty said quickly in an apologetic tone.

"As well? Wait, you don't mean Kris do you?" Lyra exclaimed.

"You mean that girl Crystal?" Morty replied.

"Yes is she okay!?" Lyra and I both said.

"She's fine, a Pokemon Ranger found her and some other kid named Silver out in the forest." Morty replied

"Wait, Silver was with her!?" Lyra and I shouted.

"You know him?" Morty replied as he stepped back a bit from our reactions.

"Know him! He's the reason the tower burned in the first place, where is he now you have to stop him!" I exclaimed.

"Relax Gold, the Rangers have taken him in, Crystal told us the whole story. It's because of her we sent a team of Rangers to find you in the tower's basement, but when we couldn't find you there we feared the worst."

"But we're alright, we woke up out in the woods just like Kris and Silver." said Lyra.

"You too?" Morty replied as he raised his eyebrow.

"Did Kris tell you anything about what moved her and Silver from the tower?" I asked.

"No unfortunately she was clueless as to how she got there, and Silver refuses to respond to any of our questionings, but I'm certain he doesn't know either. Hmmm, this is defiantly strange, the Brass Tower burns a second time and the occupants were miraculously saved…..could it be?" Morty said as he turned to the side and held his hand up to his chin like he was recalling something.

"Be what?" I asked.

"What? Oh it's nothing, I'm just glad that you two are safe. I'll tell the Rangers to stop looking for you." Morty said as that pleasant expression he wears all the time reappeared on his face.

"Can we see Kris?" Lyra asked.

"Oh I'm sorry, she recently left with that Ranger who found her to Olivine City, and she told me that she was going to recruit at the Rangers HQ." Morty replied.

"Oh really? Then, what do we do now?" Lyra asked almost in a rhetorical manner.

"I guess we just go back to what we were doing before this whole mess started." I said turning to Lyra and giving her a smile in an attempt to move on.

She looked back at me and after a few moments I could see a slight smile appear on her face.

"Well if you plan on fighting me again I suggest you go train some more before you do." said Morty with a slight grin.

"Hey Gold, you know those hot springs we found in the woods, wouldn't that be the perfect place to train?" Lyra said in an excited manner.

I'm glad to see that Lyra was her usual cheerful self again, and her idea wasn't that half bad either.

"Well sounds like you two have a plan, I hope to see you soon I'll be waiting for you Gold. Please try to stay out of trouble you two…..And, I'm really glad that you're both okay." Morty said waving goodbye as he turned around and disappeared into the dark gym.

"Well I guess we should get going then, I hope we can still find that hot spring." I said as we left the gym and made our way back to the city.

I'm really glad that things turned out so well, I so relieved that Kris is okay and better yet Silver is behind bars. It also sounded like Kris was going to finally become a Pokemon Ranger like she always wanted to. Maybe now things will be better now for me and Lyra too.

"Hey Gold can we camp out by the hot spring tonight?" Lyra asked as we made our way across the city.

"Sure I don't see why not." I replied.

"Sweet, let's make some smores while we're at it." Lyra said enthusiastically.

"Sure lets pick up some food before we go though." I suggested as I pointed toward a nearby connivance store.

We quickly went across the street to the store to pickup the essentials before we finally left the city and starting hiking our way to the hot spring guided by Lyra's pokegear. After about an hour of walking we finally found the hillside oasis.

"This place will be perfect for you to train in Gold." Lyra said as she dropped her bag a looked around at the place.

"Mmmm the steamy air mixed the scent of spring time is just wonderful here." she added after she took a whiff of the air.

"Well, might as well get started then." I said as I pulled out my four pokeballs.

"Alright gang let's get started." I said as I tossed my pokeballs into the air as they opened up and a brilliant display of lights let my entire team loose.

Merlin a Ray appeared next to each other to my right while Duke and Nile took shape off to my left. Duke and Nile looked happy to see me while Ray wore that rather grumpy if not monotone look on his face with his arms crossed. Merlin on the other hand was completely asleep as usual.

"Hey what's up guys?" Nile remarked in cheerful tone as Duke looked around the place.

"Hey what gives? I thought we were heading back to the city, why are we back here?" Duke asked.

"Guys we're back here to train, we need to get ready to challenge Morty again." I explained to my pokemon.

"Oh okay…..So uh, what happened with Morty? Did you guys find Kris?" Nile asked.

"Every things fine, in fact we found out Kris was rescued by a Pokemon Ranger and Silver was sent to jail." Lyra replied.

"Ranger? What's a Pokemon Ranger?" Duke asked seeing that he has limited knowledge of things outside of the forest he grew up in.

"They're like the police but are much stronger and they operate on a higher level." Ray commented as he glanced over towards the Nidorino from under the rim of his hat.

"Oh….Wait who are the police?" Duke asked.

"*sigh* They're the people who stop others from breaking rules." Ray replied in a disinterested tone.

"Oh." said Duke.

"Any way guys you all remember the drill from Gold Gate, we'll start with some sparring matches." I said as I tried to get things going.

"Nile you're with me, show me what you got." Duke said looking up at Nile who returned his challenge with a toothy grin.

I love how Duke just blindly challenges the strongest out of any group, regardless if he thinks he can win or not. I like that tenacity of his, even though I know Nile is probably going to trash him if they were to fight for real.

"You do sparring matches for training? You're more sophisticated than I thought you were." Ray commented as he lifted the rim of his hat.

"You bet he is, Gold's a great trainer and he knows what he's doing too." Lyra said cheerfully.

"Oh come on I'm not that great." I said with humility as I tried not to blush from Lyra's comment.

"Well if Duke and Nile are partners, then I guess I'm with you Merlin." Ray said as he nudged the sleepy owl.

Merlin shook himself awake and yawned very loudly as he ruffled his feathers.

"Lyra, can you watch over those two for me, I'm going to keep an eye on Nile and Duke." I said.

"Sure thing." Lyra replied as she went over to Ray and Merlin while I went over to Nile and Duke.

The way I train my pokemon is a little different than how most trainers do. You see most trainers go around and fight wild pokemon in order to train their pokemon and test their skills. I'm personally don't like doing that because, as Marill has taught me, not all pokemon like to fight. So I would feel bad if I went around picking fights with pokemon who were minding their own business.

So in order to prevent this Lyra and I came up with a way to train back in Gold Gate town. It involves a series of sparring matches followed up with personal sessions where I point out what needs improvement and work on trying to teach new moves that I researched using my Pokedex. Although this method is a little slower when it comes to improvements than the traditional way, I prefer it over the latter.

We've been at this for quite some time now and I've learned a lot from the sparring matches, especially from Ray. Unlike the rest of my team, who are either brawlers or a special attacker, Ray is actually a mix of the two. With moves like thunder punch, thunder bolt, and karate chop he seems equally adapted to both forms of attacking. Although he doesn't seem as durable as the others cause he gets pretty tired rather quickly when Merlin goes on the offensive.

As the sparring matches continued I decided to look up Croconaws in my pokedex and find out what Nile is capable of learning. Most of the things he could do seemed pretty normal like surf, aqua tail, aqua jet, and even some ice moves, but there was something at the bottom of the list that stood out. _Dragon dance_. I remember that move, Kate's Altaria used it back at the contest, it certainly looked impressive but what does it do? I quickly read the description of this technique to uncover its potential.

"Dragon dance, the move that exemplifies the essence of hidden draconic power in most dragon types as well as those with draconic heritage. The user delves deep into his inner well of power and unleashes it giving the user a boost in speed and strength." the dex entry read.

Speed and strength huh, if Nile could learn how to do that then that would defiantly give me an edge in any battle.

"Alright that's enough for now." I said motioning for Nile and Duke to stop their match.

"What's up?" Nile asked as he released Duke from a head lock.

"Nile I was wondering if you could use a certain move I just read about." I said walking over to him.

"Like what?" Nile asked as he looked up at me along with Duke who was equally interested.

"Do you remember the Altaria back at the contest?" I asked.

"You mean that weird bird thing with the clouds?" he replied.

"Remember the move it used, you know dragon dance?"

"Yeah I think I do, wasn't that the thing where all that red and blue stuff surged through the bird's body?"

"Yeah, you think you can do that?" I said eager to see if he could, but he responded with a confused look.

"Wait I thought only dragon types could use dragon moves." Duke said confused.

"Plus I don't even know how I would even begin to try that." Nile added.

"Well Nile can you at least try, the description said something about delving into your inner power so why don't you think about something that makes you mad?" I said.

"Mad?" Nile said confused as he raised his scaly brow.

"How's that supposed to help?" Duke added.

"Well…." I said nervously as I scratched the back of my neck realizing how nerdy I was about to sound.

"Whenever the hero in mangas and movies gets mad they always tap into some sorta hidden strength and use it to defeat the bad guy." I said reluctantly.

"What's Manga?" Duke asked.

"Uhh….it's like a comic book but with a particular art style." I explained.

"A comic book?" Duke said still confused.

"Look I'll just show it to you some other time, anyway Nile can you try thinking about something that makes you mad?" I said trying to get back on track.

"Well I guess I'll try, but I can't think of anything off the top of my head…..well except maybe…" Nile said as a scowl began to show on his face.

"What?" I asked

"Alpha, that freak of a Pokemon." Nile said with a scornful tone.

"I hate him, you should've heard the things he says when he fights, he's twisted and evil and I hate that I can't do a thing against him." Nile said clenching his fists and gritting his teeth.

"I hate that I couldn't protect you from him and that I can't do anything against something that I'm supposed to be naturally stronger than. I hate him, I hate him, I absolutely hate him." Nile said angrily as I felt something in the air shift.

I glanced down at Nile and I saw thing happen for a split second. It was spark of red and blue energy that arced across his body. It was very faint but I defiantly saw it. Oh my god did that crap about getting mad actually work?

"Whoa, it actually worked." Nile said in an astonished tone as he looked at his hands.

"Wow that was weird." Duke commented.

"Hey try that again, see if you can get it to last longer." I said encouraging him.

"Okay I'll try." Nile said as he clenched his fists again and tried to focus.

A few moments passed and nothing seemed to happen until suddenly another spark of convulsing red and blue energy jumped across Nile's body again which was quickly followed up by more and more streams of draconic energy that surged across the Croconaw's body. Duke and I took a step back from Nile as the energy that flowed through his body became more intense until finally it dispersed.

"Whoa, I feel incredible." Nile exclaimed as he held his arms up like he was declaring a challenge to the world.

He quickly turned to the side and found a nearby boulder. He then held his hands out and cracked his knuckles.

"Nile what are you thinking?" I said looking at how large that boulder was.

"I'm going to break it in half." Nile said with confidence.

"What!?" I exclaimed.

"Just watch." Nile said with a smirk on his face as he dashed toward the large boulder faster than I have ever seen him move before.

"Holy crap he's fast!" Duke exclaimed as Nile jumped toward the boulder with his fist incased in ice and smashed the rock to pieces.

"Oh my god that was incredible!" I exclaimed in shock of how easily Nile just obliterated the boulder that looked like it weighed more than a ton.

"What's going on over here?" I heard Lyra say from behind me.

I turned around to see Lyra along with Ray and Merlin walking over to us. She must've heard the commotion.

"Nile just learned a new move." I explained.

"Really? What is it?" Lyra asked enthusiastically.

"He just learned dragon dance." Duke answered.

"And I feel like I can take on the world." Nile said with and empowered voice as he threw a few punches like he was pretending to be a boxer.

"Wow that's awesome, I knew you could teach them new moves Gold." said Lyra.

"Thanks, so how did the sparring matches go with Ray and Merlin?" I asked.

"They went fine, I think you'll find them both ready to take on Morty, you should expect nothing less from moi." Lyra said gesturing towards herself in joking manner.

"And you make fun of me for being cocky?" I snickered.

"That's because I'm aloud to be confident cause I'm awesome." she said giggling to herself.

"God you're like ten year old." I said under my breath.

"Hey I heard that!" Lyra barked at me.

"Sorry." I said regretfully knowing that I might invoke the prankster's wrath.

"So anyway, I think we should wrap things up here for today, wanna help me start a fire." I said as I stretched my arms.

As I looked around the area for any loose sticks on the ground I saw Lyra walk up to me like she was going to say something to me, but then she stopped in her tracks as she wafted air away from her nose.

"Oh god speaking of fire you smell like ash and sweat man, jeez you reek." Lyra said with a disgusted look on her face.

"What I don't smell that bad." I replied as I took a whiff of my sweat shirt.

"Yes you do, you know what come with me." Lyra said as she grabbed my hand and nearly threw me off my feet.

"Whoa where are you taking me?" I said as I tried to steady myself while Lyra brought me to the edge of the hot springs that were imbedded into the side of the hill.

"Here you need to take a bath." she said as she let go of my hand and pointed at the steaming water.

"What you mean now?" I said in astonished tone as I heard Nile and Duke snickering behind me.

"Come on haven't you ever wanted to take a bath in a hot spring?" she said tugging on my sweat shirt.

"Um I don't know I mean, that water looks really hot, you sure it's a good idea to get in there." I said as I walked up to the edge of the water.

"What if the water is so hot it burns me? I mean I've read stories about people burning themselves in hot springs" I said in a concerned tone.

"Hey Gold can I see your bag?" Lyra asked prompting me to turn around.

"Umm…sure why do you need it?" I said in a confused tone as I handed her my single strap backpack.

"Oh you'll see in a second." she said as she placed my bag on the ground next to her.

As I thought about what she was doing I turned around again to look at the pool of hot water. Lyra must be crazy if she wants me to get in there.

"Lyra I'm not sure…" I said but was cut off when I felt Lyra push me from behind.

"Whoa what the heck!" I yelled as I fell into the hot water in front of me.

My mind flooded with fear of how hot the water was going to be and I braced myself for the worst. I was practically ready to curse Lyra for doing something so dangerous, but after the initial shock of hitting the water I was surprised to not feel my skin being scalded, but rather I felt a pleasant warmth like getting into a hot tub that's just the right temperature. In hindsight I probably should've seen this coming.

When I resurfaced I looked back towards Lyra who was giggling along with the rest of my pokemon except for Ray.

"So how's the water?" she said snickering to herself.

"What the heck Lyra!?" I retorted.

"Well you weren't going to get in so I took action." she said in her sly voice.

"Uggh god I can't stand you some times, look now my clothes are soaking wet." I said in an irritated manner.

"Oh calm down that's why I grabbed your bag, you have spares in there." she said walking over to the other side of the pool toward the rocky wall at the other end.

"Hey where are you going?" I asked in a lackluster tone.

"I'm going to take a bath in the other pool." she replied as she started to undo the straps of her overalls.

I felt my checks blush as the thoughts of Lyra taking a bath instantly rushed through my head.

"Wait what!" I exclaimed.

"Jeez relax it's not like going to do it in front of you, there's two pools of water separated by that wall." she said pointing toward the rocky formation that divided the two pools of steaming water.

"Oh…right, heh." I said in a meek voice.

"Plus I think the hot water will be great for the egg." Lyra said as she disappeared around the rocky wall.

"Well if everyone's taking a bath then count me in, CANNON BALL!" I heard Nile shout from behind me as I felt a large splash of hot water hit me.

"Nile what the heck man." I said turning around to see my Croconaw with big grin on his face.

"Oh stop being a sour puss, you're already wet." Nile snickered.

"Uggh whatever." I said as I pulled off my wet sweat shirt along with the rest of my clothes.

I figured I just couldn't win and should just take a bath like Lyra said. She's probably right anyway; I most likely do smell pretty bad considering all that I went through recently. But taking a normal bath wasn't easy though and it wasn't because I'm in hot spring, granted this is the first time I've ever been in one, no it's something a little more blatant. It's the fact that Lyra is literally naked on the other side of this rock wall!

God damn my perverted imagination, her slim petite body is the only thing I can think about! Why is Lyra completely fine with taking a bath when I'm literally ten yards away from her, with the only thing separating us is a rock wall? Dear god she must really trust me to not do anything.

"Hey Gold do you have any shampoo in your bag?" I heard Lyra call out from the other side of the rocky formation.

"Huh, wait what?" I said as I snapped out of my fantasies of Lyra.

"Shampoo, do you have any? I could've sworn you stole some of those tiny bottles they have back at the hotel."

"Oh I uh…I um…I think I do." I said timidly as I swam over to my bag to see if I did.

I pulled out a small bottle of shampoo that I took from the last hotel we were in and threw it over the ten foot rock wall.

After hearing a splash of water I heard Lyra say, "Thanks."

After that I sank back into the warm water, but the thoughts of Lyra returned with a vengeance. I tried to think of something else but those thoughts were not going away. She's so cute and pretty, everything from her brown hair to her brown eyes was perfect. And the fantasies of seeing her wash herself filled my mind. It's just like what that movie said, the most infectious thing is an idea. And the idea of Lyra doing naughty things was defiantly infectious.

Thankfully my naughty thoughts were interrupted when I saw Nile surface from under the steamy water as he exclaimed, "Dude you won't believe this, but there are freaking tunnels down there."

"What really?" I said with intrigue.

"Yeah they go all over the place down there." Nile explained.

"I guess that's where the hot water comes from." I commented as those damn thoughts of Lyra came back.

Nile then gave me a confused look and tilted his head to the side.

"Gold I know the water's hot, but your cheeks look like they're on fire, you okay?" Nile said in concerned tone.

"What, no I'm fine." I said in an embarrassed manner as I scratched the back of my neck.

"Wait a second….Oh I know what's going on here." Nile said in a cocky voice like he just figured out something.

"Uh what are you talking about?" I said as I sank a little lower into the water.

"Wow I can't believe I didn't figure it out sooner, you have a crus…." Nile said before I instantly slammed his jaws shut with my hands before he could say anything else.

"Nile shut up." I whispered in an agitated tone.

"Oh so you do have a crush on her." Nile mumbled through his teeth.

"No I don't." I retorted quietly.

"Sure whatever you say lover boy." Nile said sarcastically as he turned around and started sinking into the water.

"Where are you going?"

"Oh you'll see." Nile said as he disappeared under the water.

Where the hell is he going? As I thought about what Nile was doing I heard something surface from under the water on the other side of the rocky wall.

"What the hell?" I muttered under my breath.

"Oh hi Nile." I heard Lyra say gleefully.

Nile!? How the hell did he get over there? Wait did he use those tunnels he was talking about? What the heck is he doing?

"Hey Lyra how's the egg?" Nile asked.

"Oh it's doing fine, I get the feeling it's going to hatch soon." she replied with glee.

"Need any help with the egg?" Nile asked.

"No, but aren't you the thoughtful one, oh you're so cute I could give a hug, come here." Lyra said with her cute voice.

A hug? Wait a second…Oh my god...Nile you lucky son of a bitch! I felt myself clenching my fist as I realized this was his plan right from the start. That's just cruel man, I thought we were bros.

I then heard something surface from underneath the water behind me and I turned around to see what it was. It was Nile and he wore the biggest toothy grin on his face and his scaly cheeks were a little red.

"*Chuckle* Jealous?" Nile said in a jeering voice.

"I'm not talking to you." I said crossing my arms as I turned around which only prompted Nile to burst into laughter.

"Hey what's so funny over there?" Lyra asked from the other side.

"It's nothing, Nile's just being stupid." I replied as I slumped down into the warm water.

"Lyra and Gold sitting in a tree, K, I, S…" Nile snickered quietly to himself before I shot him a glare.

Nile just chuckled as he began to float on his back. God this is going to be a long night.

* * *

Why did I lose? Why did I lose to that blue haired girl and that stupid Ranger? I don't get it why does this girl constantly get in my way? What makes her keep going when she knows I'm stronger than her? And how did she make that stupid Chikorita unafraid of me? What makes her never give up? And that Ranger who beat me, Jordan Wake, why does his last name seem familiar?

Why can I hear pokemon talk when no one else does? What did that beast do to me? He called it a curse. He also called me the Pariah, like what those two pokemon talked about in my dream about the mountain. They said I was the other one that bared the weight of fate. What does that mean?

So many questions left unanswered and I'm not going to figure them out from inside this fucking jail cell. I need to get out, I have to become better than my worthless father, I'll show him that I can become stronger than he ever was.

My thoughts were interrupted when I heard the taping of claws against concrete like something was walking down the hall. These sounds were also accompanied by the jingle of keys being spun around. Whatever it was it didn't sound very tall. Looks like my ticket out of here finally showed up.

"Well it's about time you got here."

* * *

**So after doing some surgery on my original copy of my second favorite pokemon game, emerald, by replacing its old battery I decided to start my first nuzlocke challenge. And as I was going around the world looking for the first pokemon in a certain route I had an incredibly stroke of luck and found a Ralts as my first encounter on that route. As you could probably guess I squealed like a little girl. I'm such a man.**

**My current team is: **

**Ripely the Grovyle**

**Alicia the Kirlia**

**Delphine the Lombre**

**And Stein the Mighyena (hehehe I like Soul Eater)**


End file.
